Gateway Heroes Origins: SAO Hollow Aftermath
by Chaos HellLaser
Summary: Prequel to SAO Infinite Scenario: He's beaten the game and freed everyone but he's the only one asleep. Suguha while waiting for her brother to come back meets his friends Kotone, Ryoutarou, Sachi and Strea. View this prologue as they try to gain Suguha's trust and learn about her and the demons Kazuto has been facing on his own for far too long. Feel free to review.
1. Reality Check

**Reality Check**

It's been a month since the SAO Incident from two years ago, where 10,000 players were trapped in a what was supposed to be a normal virtual reality MMORPG. It was turned into to a death game when Akihiko Kayaba announced that information on day one. Players couldn't return to the real world until they've cleared all 100 floors. He also rigged the game's death ability, if they died in here they would die in the real world. Their brains would either be damaged or fried to death. In the first month 2,000 died. While progressing through the years some players decided to live their lives in VR where others tried to complete it until that day.

The day where the game was completed. The Assault Team was doing a boss raid against the Skull Reaper. After beating it, one person figured out that the game wouldn't be completed by beating the 100 floors, it was beating the creator. His name was Kazuto (Kirito) Kirigaya. He had figured out that the creator was among them as the Blood Knights Leader Heathcliff. He knew something was off about him when the first battled. When he was about to strike him, everything around him froze. Time stopped, and then something allowed Heathcliff to move his shield to where he could block the attack. Kirito noticed and knew there was more to Heathcliff then he thought. He remembered hearing rumors that Heathcliff's HP never dropped into the yellow zone.

So, after the boss raid he was challenged by Heathcliff to a fight saying that if he wins then the game would be complete and everyone would go back to the real world. At first it looked like he lost when he was stabbed but Kirito managed enough willpower to move his arm and stab Kayaba in the chest. Kayaba died first and then him. The game was cleared and players were freed. While families celebrated their loved ones were coming back, one didn't. She's been in the hospital with him ever since the game cleared. He hasn't woken up yet and it frightened her more than anything.

This was Suguha Kirigaya, his sister. She has been waiting for him to come back to her since day one. She remembered him trying to separate himself from her when he found out that he was adopted by her family when his parents died. He unintentionally shunned her when they were little but as they grew older, he tried to reconnect with her as a brother. It was slow but a work in progress, then sao happened. She's been watching over him, never leaving his side until he woke up until visiting were over but that's beside the point. She pretty much loved him the moment she met him and all she wants is for him to come back.

 **Hospital Room 225: (8:10 P.M)**

It was raining. It was coming down to the point where people would see lightning and hear loud thunder. In the room was Kirito still in bed with no signs of consciousness. His body was weak and fragile from being trapped in SAO for two years. Right next to his bed was his sister Sugu. This was her daily routine: go to school, practice kendo and visit her brother until the end of the day.

 _"_ _Kazuto…..Please wake up"_ she pleaded as she puts her hand on his cheek. This was killing her. She wanted to do something…..anything to make her brother hear her. Tears start to well up in her eyes. She used her free hand to wipe them away before they could fall. She then hears a knock on the door, turning her head around and sees a nurse.

"Hey there Suguha, how are you feeling?" she greeted

"Hi Miss Takiguchi, and I'm okay." She greeted with a slight waver in her voice. Takiguchi knew she wasn't fine but decided to stay quiet. She knew this has been taking a toll on the poor girl for two years and there was nothing she could do to fix it.

"What are you doing here still, you already checked on my brother hours ago?" Sugu asked.

"I had some paperwork that needed to be finish before I forgot about it and there something I need to ask you."

"What is it?"

"Besides you and your mother, did Kazuto know anyone else before all this happened?" she asked.

Sugu raised an eyebrow in confusion. Last thing she remembered about her brother was that he didn't have any friends at school or that he was very social. He was distant towards everyone. Herself included but a month before SAO he was slowly but surely making progress with her.

"Um no I don't actually. Kazuto wasn't really that social with anybody back then but I'm curious, why did you ask me that?

"Well there are some people here asking for him. They say they have been searching everywhere for him ever since the game was completed. If you want I can tell them that only family members can see him right now." she suggested.

"Thanks Miss Takiguchi but it's okay. I would like to meet these friends of Kazuto's, I just hope they don't have anything bad to say anything about him." Sugu replied.

"Okay I'll be right back" Takiguchi said as she left to get the other visitors. Sugu turned back to her brother smiling a bit.

 _"_ _I glad you made some friends while you were trapped Oni-chan, I just hope you weren't as distant as you were to me then to them."_ she thought. She knew her brother always had problems with fitting in. He just felt like an outcast everywhere he went. He felt like he didn't belong with them. Sugu knew he felt like that when he found out who he was but she didn't care. She grew up with him and learned to love him like a sister, maybe more than that.

 _"_ _But still… people here who are claiming to know you puts me on edge. If they try to hurt you.."_ she thought darkly. Sugu doesn't trust others with her brother because he would get antagonized by others a lot. She will not let anyone hurt her brother ever again. Ever since "that" happened he would try to hide his injuries from her when he started….. cutting. That messed him up a lot more than anything. He knew he would hide from her but she found out the day of the incident. It hurt her to know that her brother did that to himself and she didn't notice. She wasn't going to let that happen again.

She was brought out of her thoughts when Takiguchi came back with 4 people that may be Kazuto's friends.

"Here we go. Sugu these are your brother's friends Kotone Takemiya, Strea Sayuri, Ryoutarou Tsuboi and Sachi Sayuri." Takiguchi introduced as she gestured her hand at each person she referred. Sugu inspected the four standing before her.

Kotone had brown hair that went down to her shoulders with blue eyes and was wearing a blue open jacket with a pink undershirt and a green sleeveless top, dark yellow plaid skirt with leg stockings and blue hi tops. Sugu assumed she isn't afraid to say what's on her mind and says everything rather bluntly.

Sugu then turned to the man next to Kotone named Ryoutarou. He had spiky red hair with a bandana with brown eyes and a slight beard on his face, he was wearing a black biker coat with a red undershirt with black pants and black boots. Next to him was Strea.

Strea had pale brown hair that went down to her chest with red-violet eyes and was wearing a short sleeve white button down blouse with a purple coat, with a black crop skirt and boots. Last but not least was the girl standing next to Strea named Sachi.

Sachi had black hair that went to her shoulders and dark blue eyes, she was wearing a light blue sweater with a black scarf and shorts that hugged her knees with blue boots. She was also holding an umbrella in her left hand. Sugu assumed that they were friendly but she didn't want to do anything yet, not until Takiguchi left them alone. Speaking of her…..

"I'll leave you five alone for a bit to get to know each other." she said.

"Okay miss Takiguchi, thank you for the help." Strea said smiling at her.

"My pleasure." She finished as she left the room closing the door behind her. As soon as she left, Suguha's demeanor changed as she grabbed her kendo stick and pointed it at the four newcomers threateningly putting them on alert. Strea pulled Sachi to stay behind her while Kotone got into her stance ready to guard against the weapon until Ryo got in between them.

"WHOA WHOA WHOA, HANG ON A SECOND CANT WE TALK THIS OUT?" he shouted but was silenced by Sugu's harsh glare.

"Who the hell are you people, why do you claim to know my brother, if you're here to hurt him…." She trailed off as her grip on the stick tighten. Kotone kept her eye on Sugu while keeping her distance, Strea was shielding Sachi in case they were attacked as Ryo tried to calm her down.

"No, no, no, we aren't trying to hurt him honest!" he shouted while frantically waving his hands. Suguha kept her glare in place not believing anything from him until Sachi decided to step in.

"Um…..before you hurt us can we at least explain why we are here and how we met Kirito in SAO?" she said while stepping out in the open from Strea but still kept her distance. Sugu wanted to kick them out of the room and keep them as far as possible away from Kazuto but once she saw Sachi's expression she frowned. She saw in her eyes that she was just worried for Kazuto and just wanted to help. Sugu let out a sigh and lower the stick before setting it next to her backpack and sitting back down in her chair.

"Okay, I guess I can listen to you before assuming the wrong idea." she said while Sachi smiled at her suggestion.

"Thank you. Thank you so much….. um…" she trailed off.

"Sugu. Suguha Kirigaya, I'm Kazuto's sister." she stated.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Sachi." she then gestured her hand out at the that three behind her as she introduced them.

"This is my sister Strea, and our friends Ryo and Kotone."

"Hi"

"Hey"

"Nice to meet you Suguha."

"Nice to meet you all too. Now, before I forget….." she trailed off before she set her glare back on them.

"How do you know my brother?" she asked. Sachi felt afraid before she came up with a glare of her own, she wasn't get intimidated by someone she just met, even if she was Kirito's sister and she wasn't leaving without explaining.

"We met him in SAO, not at the same time but we all knew him. He helped us whenever he ran into us, he helped me overcome my fear of death in the beginning." Sachi said smiling at her memory of when she first met Kazuto.

"He helped me level up for a bit in the beginning and fought on the front lines for a bit whenever we needed to clear a floor." Ryo added.

"He reunited me with my sister. I was trying to find her for a year on my own and then he came along. He said that my goal reminded him of you, he said something about his younger childhood but I didn't want to pry into it. All he told me was that he wished that if there was anything he would instead of being in SAO, it would be spending time with his sister to not only make up for what he did but also to make you happy and be a better brother. So he told me that he won't only be putting his life on the line for everyone, he will be fighting for his life to see you again." Strea said as she approached Sachi and wrapped arms around her while leaning her head on her shoulder. Sugu was touched by the fact that Kazuto thought about her while he was trapped but what warmed her heart was that he was fighting to not only free others, he was fighting to be with her again. Everyone looked at Kotone, waiting for her to say her piece.

"I was seen as orange player, I thought I killed someone or worse. I ran into him in a forest and he instantly noticed I was different from other orange players he met. He didn't see me as a threat so I asked him to help me clear my name and he did." She finished smiling at the memory.

"Kirito helped us with our problem and somehow got all of us to meet each other one day.

"But after he helped us he disappeared." Suguha raised an eyebrow at this.

"What do you mean he disappeared?" she asked. Kotone was about to answer but Strea beat her to it.

"She means that as soon as he helped us with our problems, he just left but not before leaving a note. He said that it was too dangerous for us to be around him." she said grimly.

"Why would he say something like that?" this time Ryo answered.

"None of knew at the time what he meant but we didn't know the answer until a few months later there were rumors."

"Rumors?"

"Rumors said that he was a killer, and players would always avoid him and keep their distance." Suguha then shouted in anger at the answer.

"MY BROTHER IS NO KILLER!"

"WE KNOW THAT…. We all know that he isn't one." he shouted before lowering his voice.

"None of us ever thought that Kirito or Kazuto would kill anyone without reason of why he did it. When we all heard about it we would go to previous areas of where he would be at or has been and ask around." he stated.

"And what exactly happened at those places?" Sugu asked as her voice lowered into a whisper and her hair shadowing her eyes. Ryo was scared to answer thinking that he would be on the receiving end of wrath. He looked at the girls and noticed that they backed away a bit. Sachi was clutching her sister's hand for comfort as Strea held her in a hug and Kotone was waiting for some type of movement from Suguha so she could be ready for it. Ryo was about to answer until Takiguchi came back into the room saving their skin.

"Sorry to interrupt but visiting hours are over and as always Suguha you can come back…. " she trailed off as she noticed the tense atmosphere. "Um….did something happen while I was gone?" she asked calmly. Sugu snapped out of her state and smiled at the nurse.

"No its not you Miss Takiguchi, just working out some issues that's all." She said as she forced a smile at her.

"Well okay but I don't want any fighting from you four ok?" they all nodded at her and she smiled.

"Ok better hurry up, don't be in here when I come back." She turned to exit the room

"Yes ma'am."

"And Suguha"

"Yes?"

"I'll see you tomorrow." With that she left leaving the four. Silence permitted the air as no one wanted to talk. Sugu decided to break the tension.

"Look I don't trust a lot people with my brother since they always give him problems and treat like an outsider…" the others were about to protest until she continued. "But after hearing your guys' short stories of what he did for you and I can drop my guard for a bit and use this chance to learn more about you guys." She finished.

"So how about this, why don't we all meet up at my place and talk about the rest of this later?" she suggested. They all wondered the same thing and agreed on this until Strea pointed out the problem.

"Wait, we don't know where you live?"

"Alright then how about we meet up at the SAO Survivor school and walk to my house to finish our conversation?"

"Why there?"

"Two reasons. One: Tomorrow my brother is having a check up on a scan or something but the nurse Takiguchi is going to look after him. They been having it for the past month for him, at first I thought I was because they were using him as a lab rat but really they are trying to keep his body active before it fails." Sugu saw the others eyes widened in horror. Sachi then speaks trying to not breakdown at the moment.

"Fail?"

"I'll tell you another time." Sugu answered not wanting to remember her brother's condition. Kotone protested in anger.

"TO HELL WITH THAT!" Everyone except Sugu was surprised at her outburst.

"You are gonna tell us what you meant by fail!" she exclaimed walking up to Sugu and glaring at her. Sugu stood up and bang her forehead against hers hard making Kotone yelp a bit in pain as blood trailed down both their faces.

"You don't get to demand anything from me. You came here asking for my brother remember, and I'm letting you guys do that but you'd forgotten that I have the option to ask Takiguchi to make sure she doesn't allow you to see my brother. So, do you really want to do this and lose my trust right now?" Sugu said harshly as her hair covered one of her eyes as she looked down. Kotone and the others shivered slightly at her tone, it was full of malice and hatred. And her eye… it was glowing a bright green as if she was ready to attack. Ryo got in the middle of them to avoid in what could be a violent confrontation.

"Look, Kotone didn't mean it ok. She's just worried about him, we all are and the last thing we want is to lose your trust. Kotone tell her your sorry for provoking her." Ryo looked at Kotone and saw her grit her teeth in frustration.

"Kotone….." he called out to her again hoping she would listen. Kotone just dropped her head down upset.

"I'm… sorry. I really am I'm didn't mean anger just please don't keep us from seeing him. I….. I don't want to lose anyone else." She said as tears welled up in her eyes. She was trying not to cry in front of them but she was failing miserably. While this happened, Suguha was looking at Kotone, her eyes that were once full rage were replaced with sympathy. She had those same eyes when her brother was trapped in the game on the first day and when he didn't come back. She walked past Ryo and stood in front of Kotone. Everyone was waiting for her reaction or next move. Kotone was too busy in her own mind to notice who was standing in front of her. she was pulled out of her stupor when she felt someone pull her into a hug. She opened her eyes and saw a hint of black hair. Sugu pulled back and looked at Kotone. "I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to threaten you guys and take away your option of seeing my brother, it's just that he would always be alone at school or people would just antagonize him on purpose, so he really didn't have many people to rely on for help." She said.

"That's why I threatened you guys earlier but I feel like that you are telling truth and hearing the reasons of how you met my brother and seeing how much you care for him, makes me really happy." She smiled softly at them.

"Sorry to interrupt the moment but you haven't answered our second reason." Ryo said.

"Ryo!" Sachi and Strea exclaimed while kicking him in the shin.

"Ow sorry, but remember the nurse said visiting hours are over and we don't have much time left." he said shrinking under the glare from them.

"Oh right, I forgot about that. Sorry." Kotone said.

"No worries, my second reason is that since that you all go there I could meet up with you there and walk to my house the rest of the way." she suggested before receiving confused looks from them. " What's wrong, don't you all go there?" Sugu asked raising her eyebrow. Sachi spoke up to answer her reason.

"I did in the beginning but after the game, my sister decided to homeschool me instead. Also, school reminded me of my dead friends." she frowned at the mention of her friends. Sachi felt Strea wrapped her arms around her midsection giving comfort, she put her hand on top of hers and squeezed back.

"What about you Kotone?"

"I live in the city not far from the school in an apartment. I'm alone actually, I lost my parents while I was in SAO." She frowned.

"Wait it wouldn't happen to be building near the Dice Café would it?" Ryo asked. Kotone looked at him in bewilderment.

"Yes and how do you know that?" she asked.

"Because it's the same building I live in." he said.

"How have I not notice that?" She asked.

"Because you've never bother to asked." Sachi deadpanned while Kotone look away from them and scratched her cheek with her finger in embarrassment.

"Then it's settled, you two will meet me at the school and we'll walk from there."

"Me and Sachi could meet up with you guys at the park that's a few blocks up from the school since we live nearby." Strea suggested.

"Okay that works too. We better head out now before Takiguchi comes back." Sugu said.

"All right, come on girls time to go home." Ryo said. They all left but not before Sugu stopped.

"Hey you coming Suguha?" Kotone called.

"Oh yeah I'll be there in a second." she said quickly looking at her. Kotone nodded her head and waited outside for her. Suguha looked back at her brother.

"Kazuto, I'm glad that you made some friends while you were in SAO. Just like me they're really worried about you, you still haven't woken up." She smiled sadly. She then leaned down near his forehead whispering.

"Brother, please come back. Your friends miss you, mom miss you,…. I miss you. Please come back to us soon." she put a hand on his cheek. _"_ _Please come back to me."_ She thought to herself. She leaned in and pressed her lips gently against his forehead before grabbing her backpack, kendo stick and umbrella heading out but not before taking one last look at her brother before leaving for the night.

 **Hospital Front Entrance:**

"All right let's recap, Kotone and I meet Suguha at the school from there we meet Sachi and Strea at the park and then Suguha leads the way to her house got it?" Ryo reminded them.

"Yep"

"Okay"

"Yes"

"Okay then see you all tomorrow." Suguha said heading to the bus and waving her hand back to them.

"Bye guys, we'll see you tomorrow." Strea said before taking her sister's hand in hers and walking down the opposite direction.

"That just leaves us. Shall we?" Ryo said while bowing at her making Kotone looked at him blankly.

"No need to act like a gentlemen to me Ryo. Just because you're having issues with getting girls doesn't mean you can practice on me to get better." she said walking past a deflated Ryo. Ryo hung his head before walking behind her. As they walked Ryo thought back to Kotone's crying moment.

"Hey Kotone?"

"Hmm?

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm okay, why do you ask?"

"Back in the room, you said that you don't want to lose anyone else and started crying." he said not noticing Kotone's eyes were shadowed by her hair.

"I've never seen you cry like that before. Hell, I don't think Strea and Sachi have either. Do you have something you want to talk about?" he asked carefully. Kotone was silent for a moment, she wanted to talk with him but she thought it would be better telling all of them another time, when she was ready. So she looked back a Ryo with a forced smile."Don't worry about Ryo I'm fine. I was just lost in thought at the moment but I'm okay really." Ryo was unsure of her telling the truth.

"Kotone are you really…" he said but was interrupted.

"Let's just go home okay I don't want to stay out in the rain for too long." Kotone walked ahead of him not wanting to continue. Ryo just sighed in acceptance before catching up with her and walking home.

 **Sayuri Sisters:**

Sachi was sitting with her sister on the couch thinking back to Kazuto and Suguha. She was really worried about Kazuto. He looked so lifeless, and pale as if he was going to die soon and she could do nothing about it. She remembered what Suguha said about his body failing. Tears started to well up in her eyes as she thought about her friend coming close to dying.

Strea was sitting reading a book until she heard Sachi sniffling. She was probably thinking about Kazuto and his state of health. Strea put her book down and pulled Sachi into a comforting hug.

"You're thinking about him aren't you, about Kirito?" she asked. She heard Sachi whisper yes to her. Strea knew that Sachi looked at Kirito like an older brother, they both did. He would take his time to help them with a bit or just hang out with them before he would run off.

"I was thinking back to what Suguha said about his condition… Do you think it's true, do you think he's dying?" she asked silently before she started sobbing. Strea shook her head at the accusation.

"No, no, no, no, no. Sachi don't think like that. Kirito may look bad now, but he's strong. He'll come through okay, he will." She said shushing her sister while rocking her back and forth. Strea was thinking about why Sachi would think that until it came to her…. her old friends.

 _"_ _The Moonlit Black Cats. She lost them because she couldn't do anything about it and Kirito saved her that day. She's afraid she'll lose him feeling helpless again."_ She thought. Strea was brought out of her thoughts when she heard soft snoring. She looked to her right and saw Sachi sleeping with tear marks on her face. Strea smiled softly at her sister wiping away the tear marks before grabbing the gray blanket near the couch and draping around them both.

"Don't worry Sachi, Kazuto will come back I promise." She whispered before letting sleep take her.

 **Kirigaya Residence (Suguha's Room):**

Suguha was laying in bed thinking about the events that have occurred today. Meeting her brother's friends, her threats and seeing Kotone cry. She frowned at the threat events.

 _"_ _Maybe I was a little too hard on them with those threats earlier. I didn't mean to be that harsh." She thought before looking up at the ceiling. "I'm a little overprotective of my brother that I forget that I need to not watch over him like a sister/mother hen. But I do it because of the times he was pushed around when we were little up to now."_ Suguha then thought back to each of her brother's new friends. Kotone, she was nice, she says what's on her mind but she looked like she was hiding something. She wouldn't pry into it though everyone has a reason to hide something. Next was Ryo, he was okay and he seemed like a guy who would diffuse a situation before it would get out of hand but there was something off about him. The less she knew the better. And then there's the sisters Strea and Sachi, they both were nice and friendly. _"_ _Out of the four, those two seem so trustworthy and Sachi was eager to gain my trust when she saw me. Either way I can trust all of them."_ She thought before going to sleep. There was something that still bothered her though. What did they mean when their rumors about Kazuto being a cold killer.

She clenched her bedsheets in anger. There was no way her brother would do something like that and she knows it. She believed in her heart that Kazuto would become someone like that no matter how bad things would get. And if he did, then she would pull him out of his own darkness and into the light.

"I promise Kazuto, I won't let you fall. I'll be with you to the end, I promise." She said before going to sleep not knowing that a miracle would happen the next day.


	2. Confrontation and Revelation

**Next Day:**

After the events from last night, everyone had something on their minds to think about. Kotone was thinking about her parents, Ryo was worried about Kotone, Sachi and Strea were worried about her as well, and Suguha was still having doubts about trusting them but they all had one constant topic on their minds… Kazuto. Everyone had a pretty rough night, and no one was ready for what would happen today.

* * *

 **Kirigaya Residence:**

The rays of the morning sun shine through glass back door and onto her face. Suguha pulled the blankets over here covering her face from the sun and tried to go back to sleep. She wanted to sleep a little longer until she remembered that she was meeting up with her brothers' friends later on today. She then opened her eyes and removed the covers from her body.

 _"_ _Friends huh?"_ she thought to herself. _"_ _Why…. Why do I trust them so easily?"_ she asked herself. For all she knew they could just be lying and try to kill him.

She flinched at that last part. She didn't mean to think like that but she remembered how weak he looked when she saw him. His body was giving out, and he wasn't waking up.

"Oni-chan" she whispered as tears welled up in her eyes. She didn't want him to die, not when she still needs him. She may have had her mother but no one understood her like he did. He may have been cold in the past to her but all he needed was just someone to talk to, someone to comfort him when he felt like he was alone. He needed someone to bring him out of his darkness.

 _"_ _That's why I'm here, that's why I need him to wake up. After hearing from Ryo about him killing people which I doubt he actually do unless he had no choice since they were all trap in a death game. I know they're just rumors and I only hope that's it."_ She finished thinking as she clutched her hands together over her heart.

"He's still there. Still trapped inside his own darkness, his guilt and regrets are pushing him down further and further into the deep dark abyss."

"I need to bring him out, I need to show him that no matter what happens nothing is going to make me think of him as a killer, he's my brother and nothing is going to change that." She said to herself as she tightened her hands even more.

She got out of bed and stretched out her arms up high into the air as she yawned. She was wearing a plain white t-shirt that covered her red bra and panties.

"I need to get ready for the day." She said as she went over to her closet and picked up her shorts and red jacket. She also looked around her room realizing that it was a mess.

"And I also need to clean."

* * *

 **Sayuri Sisters Home:**

Strea was already up before Sachi, she usually is. She wakes up early then her to make breakfast for them both while Sachi gets ready for the day. It was usual for them ever since their parents….

"No, I don't want to think about them. Not after what they did to us, what they did to Sachi." She hissed to herself. Strea hated her parents, they didn't see her or Sachi as one of their own. They saw them as nothing more than tools to use for their own gain. When she was 13 and Sachi was 10, they moved out while their parents weren't home. Strea wanted to because she needed to keep Sachi away from them and Sachi would follow her anywhere.

"I'll never forgive them." She said loudly unaware of who else was in the room with her. Sachi woke up not too long ago and just happen to walk in on her sister making breakfast but she also saw the frustrated expression on her face. She knew her sister was thinking about them again and it pained her to see how much it still affected her. Sachi moved on from them the moment they left them her sister though…

"Strea…." Her sister turned away from the pan to Sachi seeing her rubbing her eyes.

"Morning Sachi." she greeted with a smile.

"What's for breakfast this time?"

"Just eggs and bacon, there's also toast if you want any if not just give to me since I'll eat it for you." She told her.

"I know you would but I think I will take some toast." Sachi replied.

"Alright then, go ahead and have a seat breakfast is almost done." Strea said. Sachi went ahead and sat down at the table in between the kitchen and living room.

"Oh yeah, sis where's auntie Yukina and uncle Hiroki?" she asked her. Strea looked at her wondering if she didn't remember that they left for their honeymoon two days ago.

"Don't you remember, they told us that they were going overseas for their anniversary and left us in charge of taking care of the house and each other." She reminded her.

"Oh right." Sachi couldn't remember that because of the events from last night. Learning that her friend is dying is not exactly the best thing to here after searching for him continuously.

Strea frowned when she heard the sadness in Sachi's voice. She knew she was still exhausted mentally from the announcement of their friend possibly dying and meeting his sister who is on edge and not letting anybody near him. Kotone and Ryo were proof of that.

"Here you go, breakfast is served." She said putting the plates down and snapping Sachi out of her thoughts.

"Thank you Strea."

"Don't forget we have to meet up with the others at the park in the afternoon okay?" Strea reminded Sachi.

"I won't." she said before they both went to eating their breakfast. Sachi then remembered Kotone's small outburst.

"Hey Strea."

"Yes?"

"What happened with Kotone, I've never seen her cry like that before?"

"Your guess is as good as mine Sachi. She never really cried around us but I could when she needed to be alone that she would cry."

"But last night, the way she talked it didn't sound like a normal person crying. it sounded like….."

"She loves him." Sachi froze at her sister proclamation as silence filled the air. A few seconds later Sachi's face was steaming.

"Don't go saying stuff like that Strea!" she shouted as she put her hands on her cheeks trying to cool her face. Strea just looked at her sister before bursting into laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA, YOUR FACE IS ON FIRE." She pointed a finger at her sisters face as she clutched her stomach.

"STREA!" Sachi shouted at her with a glare.

"AHAHAHAHAHA all right all right, I'll stop." She said wiping tears away from her eyes.

"That wasn't nice you know?" Sachi said pouting at her. Strea stood up and walked over to her ruffling her little sister hair a bit.

"Yeah I know but you love me don't you." Sachi then grumbled a bit while fixing her hair. She then looked back at Strea who just smiled at her.

"Do you think she really loves Kirito?"

"Kotone may not know it but deep down she does love him." Strea told her. Sachi then thought about the times Kotone was very concerned about Kazuto back in SAO. Heck she would do nonstop searching for him and follow up leads on where he was last seen.

"I guess we'll have to wait and find out, won't we?" Sachi asked herself while Strea heard her and absently nodded.

* * *

 **Kotone and Ryo:**

Kotone was already walking towards school when she bumped into Ryoutarou in the way out. For all the time they knew each other and how they worked together back in SAO he was never an early riser. Today, this was out of character for him and she wondered why did he wake up so early this morning.

"Morning Kotone." He greeted her.

"Moring Ryo. You're awfully up early, what's the occasion?" she asked him.

"Oh, there's nothing big going on or anything I'm just up early because I feel like it." He told her. Kotone looked at him with a blank expression on her face.

"Klein you're lying." She hissed making him shiver in fear. Ryo could tell she was not buying his story. He remembers Strea using that tone when he took Sachi out for a quest that one time. Let's just say after that day, he wasn't able to sleep for a week.

"W-w-what makes you think that I am lying?" he stuttered. Kotone then looked at him in anger before kicking his shin making him reach for his throbbing leg only for him to be grabbed painfully by the ear.

"Ouch!"

"Klein you and I both know that you rarely lie to people, and you've never been an early morning person back in SAO. So what's the problem?" she stated and again asked him tightening her grip on his ear.

"Okay! Okay! I'll tell you just please let me go!" he pleaded, comically waving his arms up and down begging for his ear to be free. She glares at him for a few seconds before releasing her fingers from his ear leaving a red mark.

"Ouch, did you really have to pinch that hard?" he asked her only to receive a glare.

"Oh right, the um problem." he said as she nodded still waiting for an answer.

"Kotone, it's not that I have a problem."

"Then why are you so up early?"

"The reason I'm up is because of you."

"Me?"

"Your small breakdown from last night scared me a bit Kotone. And it's not just me, I bet Sachi and Strea are worried about you just as much as I am." he explained.

Kotone just sighed to herself. She knew that she let her emotions get the better of her in that one moment with Suguha and now it's causing all of her friends to worry about her which is the last thing she needs.

"Ryo, I'm fine okay. I know you're worried about me but I'm fine. The last thing I need is to be a damsel in distress for you to swoop in and save." She said as she started walking ignoring Ryo who had a small tick mark on his head for her harsh comment but he then sighed at the situation.

 _"_ _No matter what I say or do I can't get through to her. Now that I think about Strea and Sachi couldn't either and the only person who can is still in a coma."_ Ryo gritted his teeth and fists in frustration as he thought about his friend. He couldn't do anything to help them, none of them could. When they needed help, he was there to give it but when he's the one that needs it, they're helpless.

"Dammit!" he hissed silently not noticing Kotone hear him.

"Hmm, you say something Ryo?"

"No, it was nothing. Nothing at all." he said carelessly. Kotone looked at him one more time before turning around and heading off. Ryo figured it was better to figure out her emotions when they all met up with each other. So, he put hands in his pockets and follows her.

* * *

 **SAO Survivors School:**

Kotone and Ryo arrived here not too long ago after their chat. Kotone kept quiet the entire way there not wanting to talk to Ryo about anything while he tried to make a conversation with her but she was being so difficult. So he parted ways with her saying that he would meet with them later. Kotone was now walking through the halls to her class avoiding contact with other students. She was never really good at talking to people or introducing herself to them. Before she met Strea, Sachi and Ryoutarou, the only person who talked to her was Kirito and he's…

She would rather not talk about it.

 _"_ _Kazu….Kirito."_ she thought to herself. She wanted him to come back. She already lost her parents she didn't need to lose him too. She then heard whispering from behind her, she didn't really care if it was about her but it wasn't.

"Did you hear, not everyone woke up from SAO Incident." A boy said.

"What do you mean, almost everyone here came from the SAO Death game?" the girl right next to him asked.

"Not everyone, I heard there's still one person trapped. He hasn't woken up ever since the completion of the game."

"Oh no, I hope he's okay."

"Let's hope so, not everyone here wants him to come back. I don't know why but I all I know is that he's the reason everyone is alive and well." He finished as they started walking away out of Kotone's hearing distance. She hated the fact that some games still saw Kirito as a killer, it wasn't his fault it was that guild's fault.

She gritted her teeth and gripped her books to her chest angrily before releasing a breath to calm down. She knew this was going to take some time to get use to but she rather deal with it later when the day was over than dealing with it right now. She then walked to her classroom hoping it will go by faster than normal.

* * *

 **After School:**

The day went faster than Kotone thought it would. She didn't really pay attention that much since her classes were based on what she already knew but then again, it doesn't hurt to review every occasionally. Kotone was now outside the school sitting on the bench waiting for Ryo and Suguha, she remembered to wait here for them to come.

"I wonder what Ryo does when he's not around, Suguha is just across from here and as for the twins Strea is smart and has been homeschooling Sachi since they were little so they don't go here." She said to herself before shrugging her shoulders.

"Eh, I'll ask when I see them again." She said before she went to kicking her feet into the air out of boredom.

"Why hello Kotone or should I call you by your avatar name Philia." Someone greeted her from behind. Kotone turned around and met someone she hated. She had chestnut hair going down to her hair and had brown eyes that matched. This was Asuna Yuuki, a female she and the others had a few run ins from before. Kirito included except every time she came by it was to arrest him. Even she was told by Asuna that she could care less about what the guild wants, she could tell that she had a problem with him since the 4th floor, but history proves otherwise. They've been clashing against each other for a long time, and Kotone only knows about it because of a quest she went on with him.

"And who do I owe the pleasure of this meeting too?" Kotone said not even bothering to look at her.

"Well it seems you've learn to act like a child since our last encounter, I wonder if this has anything to do with that friend of yours I haven't seen for a while." She said. Kotone then flinched at her sentence as she got up and glared at Asuna.

"Don't you dare talk about him!" she hissed.

"Oh, what's wrong not liking that I'm talking bad about your favorite killer?" she antagonized her.

"He's not a killer princess." She retorted. Asuna didn't like being called princess but she knew better than to let it show so she continued her antics.

"Really then why isn't he awake like everybody else is? Is he stuck in his own madness that it's keeping him from coming back or is it something else?" she asked her. Kotone eyes widened in slight horror.

"W-What are you talking about?"

"Hmmhmm, I mean…" Asuna continued as she leaned into her ear and whispered.

"Is he dying because his body can't handle it anymore?" she finished making Kotone's body freeze in terror. How did she know about that? The only person she knew that knows about Kirito was his cousin/sister Suguha so how did she know about?

"H-How do you…?" she trailed off.

"As much as I hate following my family's way of life there are some perks to I can use to my advantage." She growled at the thought of her family before smiling in malice enjoying the look on the poor girl's face.

"It's just a matter of time, you know before he dies." She continued. Kotone just stayed silent at her not knowing what else to say.

"I hope you said your goodbyes to him, since SAO is the last place you saw him." Asuna then patted Kotone's cheek sending tremors through.

"Kirito may have survived a lot of things but it looks like his poor body couldn't take it." She chuckled evilly. Kotone had tears flowing down her face not wanting to accept the fact that Kirito might die.

"Oh, this is too easy." Asuna thought to herself as she went in to pat Kotone again but before her hand could reach her face another hand gripped her wrist and stopped her. Asuna turned to see who stop her and instantly knew who it was the moment her vision saw blue hair.

"I think it's time for you to back off Asuna." said Suguha as she held Asuna's wrist. She was on her way to get Kotone when she heard Asuna talk to her. She wanted to see how Kotone would handle the situation but it looked like Asuna knew which buttons to push and knew what made Kotone cry, that was something she would not stand for.

"Hmm, hmm. So the killer's sister comes and saves the poor girl that couldn't defend herself? I wonder what else is there that you can't do on your own Kotone." Asuna said before gritting her teeth in pain as Suguha tightened her grip on the chestnut's wrist.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way Asuna. Easy way is that you walk away from this with your hand intact and we don't bother each other again. Hard way is that I put you down to the ground with a broken wrist and leg, so which do you prefer?" she asked as her eyes glowed green staring the girl down.

Asuna would've gladly accepted her challenge except she's interested in Kirito and not her. And with him dying there's no left that would give her a good fight besides Shino, Rika, and Keiko. So instead she just sighed in boredom.

"Heh, fine you win this time Suguha." She said waving her hand in air out of boredom. Suguha glared at her one more time before letting go of her wrist.

"Stay away from her." she threatened her as she put a hand out in front of Kotone. Asuna just giggled and turned around.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm pretty sure she'll have a problem keeping herself away from me." she finished as she walked away from them. Suguha glared at her direction before sighing in relief glad that she did not have to resort to violence. She then turned her head to more important matters…Kotone. The girl hasn't said a single word since she came and it was a little unsettling.

"You okay?" she asked her. Kotone just shook her head before slightly trembling and then the tears came. She let out small sobs of sadness as she collapsed to the floor. Suguha crouched down and wrapped her arms around the terrified girl as she pressed her head against her shoulder. Kotone was scared, she feared Asuna being right about Kirito. She feared losing her best friend, the one who helped her regain her memories, the one who brought her to Ryo, Strea and Sachi. He was the one who made her feel warm, like she belonged somewhere. Losing him was the last thing she wanted. Kotone just buried her head further into Sugu's shoulder crying until she couldn't anymore.

Suguha stayed silent listening to the poor girl's cries. She doesn't know what Asuna had against Kotone but she meant it when she said it would be the last time she's near her or Kirito. She hated Asuna, she was the reason for her brother's pain and suffering and why he was stuck in his own madness. She couldn't stand being near her without blowing a fuse. She was interrupted from her thoughts when she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around and saw it was Ryo who looked at them in worry.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Asuna happened." Suguha told him while she went back to comforting Kotone.

"Asuna, dammit not again. What's their problem this time?" he muttered to himself but Suguha heard him and looked at him in question.

"Again? You mean this has happened before?" she asked.

"*Sigh* yeah. Her and three others are not really on good terms with us nor are we with them."

"What did you do?"

"It's not what we did, it's more like what we wouldn't do. Them and other people were trying to get us to keep our distance from Kirito since they saw him as a…. killer." he said not wanting to say the word killer.

"Because of all his run-ins with this murder guild almost everyone thought he was too dangerous." He continued as Sugu's eyes widened at the words "murder guild".

"Wait…. murder guild, as in people forming a guild that like to kill people for fun?"

"Yeah."

"We should talk more about this back at my house." She suggested and he agreed with her.

"Kotone, can you walk?" Kotone didn't say anything so she nodded her head.

"Okay, come on." Sugu helped her up and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as they both walked to where the twins were at. Ryo walked behind them grinning a bit.

 _"_ _These two are gonna be a real handful in the future, won't they?"_ he thought as he chuckled to himself.

"Oh yeah, but what about Strea and Sachi?"

"Oh, they're waiting around the corner. After I got off work, I bumped into them." he said.

"What were they doing?" she asked.

"I don't know, when I asked all I got was Sachi blushing and Strea laughing." He answered shaking his head at the memory. Suguha guessed it was them shopping. They both walked up to the exit of the school and saw the twins waiting for them. They asked what had happened to Kotone and they both said Asuna. Sachi just hugged the poor girl close to her while Strea took her hand and squeeze it giving her comfort. Suguha then led them to where she lived but not after taking the bus and walking about a mile to her home.

* * *

 **Kirigaya Residence:**

The group finally arrived at Suguha and Kazuto's home. Sugu suggested they all take a seat in the living room while she makes them some tea. The twins sat on the couch while Ryo sat in the chair. Kotone was a little tired from earlier so Sugu took her upstairs to the guest room for her to rest.

"So this is where Kirito grew up, this is a really nice place you Suguha." said Sachi.

"It's lovely really, if I may ask what is that room down the hallway pass the stairs?" Strea asked her.

"Oh, that's just the dojo where I do my kendo training." Sugu answered as she poured the tea into five cups.

"How long have you been doing that?" Ryo asked while Suguha handed out each cup.

"Since I was about 5. When we were younger, my brother and I would practice dueling against each other, for training…..or for fun." She added the word "fun" in the end.

"Isn't it just practicing with a bunch of harmless sticks?" Ryo asked stupidly. Sachi and Strea just sighed at him while Sugu went to the kitchen.

"What…what did I say?" he asked before receiving a smack on the head.

"OW!" he grunted as he held his head in pain. Sugu looked at him smugly before swinging her kendo stick again for Ryo's head only for it to stop inches before impact.

"This stick may look harmless but with the endless amounts of training with the right technique and control, this can be used as a self-defense weapon and can hurt like hell." she stated as she smiled wickedly at Ryo who was scared out of his pants right now.

"Hey! Language, there are children present!" Strea said as she covered Sachi's ears to try and prevent her from hearing.

"Strea, what does hell mean?" Sachi asked as she tilted her head at Strea.

"Uh, nothing. Nothing at all dear baby sister." Strea said as she patted her sister on the head much to her annoyance.

"Strea." Sachi said pouting at her.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you later."

"Mmm, fine. But you better." Sachi said.

"Okay now that that is out of the way, can you tell me about my brother in SAO?" Sugu asked with a serious face. Sachi, Strea and Ryo looked at each other before nodding.

"Okay, it all started about two months after the game was launched. I heard about a boss raid going down to clear the first floor. When they did, someone called out that beta testers knew more about the game than others. Or in other words they knew which quest to take to get a head start. The next thing I hear is that someone pointed themselves about a little more than other beta testers themselves and were called a cheater and a beta tester….a beater. We didn't know who the person was at the time until another two months later. Well…Sachi here did." He said as he pointed at her.

Sachi just looked away in embarrassment before speaking. "When I was in my old guild I met Kirito. When my friends asked if he could help them, he accepted. One night I ran away because I was afraid of dying and I just wanted end my life right then and there." She said as her gaze focused on her cup of tea.

"But when he found me, he wouldn't except that I wanted to die so easily and told me to never give up. He made me a promise that he would make sure that I would survive the nightmare. When we went on that quest, my guildmates died and I thought I would too but Kirito….. he kept his promise. He fought so much just to protect me and we survived. After that, I asked him to train me to get stronger and he complied. For the next month, he helped me get stronger and taught me how to fight a little better than I did before. And just when I thought everything was going to be okay, another thing happened, two people attacked us. We got ambushed while we were on another quest. I didn't know why but they weren't leaving until they killed us. I got grabbed from behind and felt a dagger next to my throat, the person who held me just laughed like a maniac and just when he was about to stab me, he just pierced in pixels. Kirito got to him in time before I could die, and then the other jumped in the air trying to avenge his partner but the same thing happened. They both died so quickly and I saw the look in Kirito's eyes. They weren't the same kind eyes I knew, I saw hatred and anger." She explained. Sugu kept her gaze on the girl listening silently about meeting with her brother.

"When he looked at me, his eyes turned back to normal and I thought he was okay but he backed away from me. He told me I wasn't the problem, it was him. I looked into his eyes about to tell him it wasn't but he said it was and ended the conversation right there. As night fell, we ran into Ryo or Klein if you want to call him that and stayed at an inn. The next morning, we were looking for Kirito but all we found was a note he left to us in our message. It said that he was sorry for breaking his promise to me and asked Ryo to watch over me." Sachi then looked up at Sugu and smiled at her.

"Right before he left, I knew something was up with him. His eyes were hiding pain as if he's been in that state for a long time."

"He looked like that when he met me but I couldn't figure out why." Ryo added.

"I know Kirito thinks he broke his promise to me but he didn't, I got stronger thinks to his help and I was able to fight on the front lines like Ryo here." Sachi smiled brightly.

"That's how I met him and as for Ryo he met him on the first day when the game was launched."

"Yep, and like Sachi said he's a really good teacher."

"I'm glad to know that my brother was able to help you out when you needed it." _"_ _But I can't help shake the feeling that something worse happened to him."_ Sugu thought after she said her piece.

"My turn." Strea called out getting their attention.

"I met Kirito about a year after the game was launched. I was trying to do this quest but my level wasn't high enough to complete it. I spotted him after searching through town for anyone that would help me and only he accepted. After the quest, I tried starting a conversation with him but he was very quiet. He then asked me what was I fighting for. I wanted to ask him why he would ask me that all of a sudden but the look in his eyes told me to answer instead of stalling." Strea explained as she placed a hand on Sachi's knee.

"I told him that I was fighting to find my sister. I haven't seen her since the launch and we got separated. He then told me that I reminded him of someone else who lost their sister little did I know that it was Sachi. I asked him what did they looked like and he said black hair and dark blue eyes. I started shaking and asked him if he knew her name and he said Sachi. I wanted to cry, cry that my sister was not only alive but someone knew where she was and that they could take me to her. After we transported to the town Sachi was staying at Kirito told me he had to take care of something while we were here. He took me to her first and then left….little did I know that it would be the last time that I would see him. After reuniting with Sachi and meeting Ryo, we searched for Kirito but we never could find him. He sure likes to stay off the grid doesn't he? Anyway long story short, it's thanks to him that I'm with Sachi again." She finished as she squeezed her sister knee in comfort. Suguha was taken back by these people she met, they proved her wrong. They wanted to thank her brother for what he did and didn't want him running off on his own putting himself at risk. Now all she needed was Kotone's story.

"So that was how you met him but what about the rumors of him killing people?" she asked making the other three remembered their topic.

"Oh right sorry. The rumors were saying he was killing innocent people. A lot of people believe it that he had to sneak into towns without being spotted just so Laughing Coffin wouldn't find him and massacre the town. It's because of Laughing Coffin that he was seen untrustworthy and treated like an outcast. His moniker was 'The Black Swordsman" but because of them it was changed to…"

"Black Reaper." All heads turned to the unexpected voice. They saw that it was Kotone who had a frown on her face because of what she just said.

"They called him that because he was always being hunted by Laughing Coffin and they would take some people as hostages just to break him. And when they didn't break him, they were killed just like that after he saved the hostages, but people were afraid of him." She finished as she sat down on her knees near the couch.

"Who's Laughing Coffin?" Sugu asked them.

"Laughing Coffin was a guild where players would get requests to murder people." Kotone answered her.

"Wait, someone actually created a guild for murder…..just like that?" Sugu asked horrified at the reveal.

"Yeah, back then those who didn't believe that they would make it out of the game would either live in VR or join Laughing Coffin so they can kill people for fun." Ryo explained while gritting his teeth in anger.

"So that's why all of us have been looking for him, all of our encounters with him included getting attacked or ambushed by Laughing Coffin. Kirito thinking it's his own fault for what happened to us vanished without a trace. We always get leads of his moniker Black Reaper going through towns or what he was at but every one of them was a dead end." Kotone added.

Suguha just sat there taking all the information about her brother's past adventure in SAO. She frowned at what he had to go through. He was already in enough pain here and yet he had to deal with taking lives of murderers. She'll admit that she thought that they should be killed for what they've done but it wouldn't help anybody. And Kazuto…..

 _"_ _If he wasn't down in the darkness that far before, he's sure as hell is now."_ She thought inwardly. She looked up and saw the faces of Strea, Sachi, Ryo and Kotone. She now sees why they've been looking for him and why they didn't give up on him like others did. They still see him as what she did, her kind brother who's just lonely.

"I trust you." She said silently getting their attention.

"Huh?" they all asked in unison.

"I said I trust you. I thought you people would nothing more than those would want to make my brother suffering just for fun or for no reason at all. Until now, I see that you all really care about my brother just as much as I do and want to help him with his problem. So, as I said earlier I trust you." She stated as she smiled at them.

"Thank you Suguha." said Strea and Sachi.

"Thanks." Ryo added.

"Thank you, I hope we can great friends in the future." Kotone added.

"Don't you mean right now? Sugu asked her.

"Huh?" they all asked in surprise.

"You all became my friends when I said I trust you." She pointed out.

"Awesome." Ryo cheered as he pumped his fist into the air.

"Thank you." The twins added while Kotone nodded her head in acknowledgement. Sugu smiled at them before her phone went off.

"*Ring*ring*"

"Hang on a second." Suguha said as she went into the kitchen and answered her phone.

"Hello….Mom, what's going on?" she asked her. She received crying on the other end but it didn't sound like she was sad…she was happy.

"Suguha*sob* you need to come here. He's awake*sob* Kazuto is alive." Her mother Midori mumbled not even bothering to hide her voice of joy. Suguha clasped a hand to her mouth as tears flowed down her cheeks.

"I'm on my way." She finished as she hung up the phone and turned to the others.

Thinking something happened, Kotone got up and approached Suguha.

"What's wrong is everything okay?" she asked her.

"He's awake…Kirito's awake." Sugu said. They all rose up in shock and joy that their friend has finally woken up which means…

"He's awake?" Ryo asked in shock.

"Kirito is…he really is…" Sachi added as she smiled with tears of joy flowing down her face. Strea hugged her close and just smiled at her also happy hearing that he was awake.

"I told you he would make it, Sister." She said.

"Can we go see him?" Kotone asked pleadingly. Sugu knew there was more to the girl than she thought but right now she could care less. Her brother was alive and that's what mattered right now.

"Mmhmm. Come on, let's get to the hospital." Sugu said as she grabbed Kotone's hand and pulled her as they both ran to the front door with the others behind. Sugu made sure she locked up everything before they left and ran to the hospital in full speed with one thing on their minds.

Kazuto is alive.


	3. Miracles and Reunions

**Hospital:**

Pain. That's all he felt right now, his body was in immense pain and numbness after he was….was…..de-materialized.

 _"_ _That's right I died after I beat Kayaba but if I'm dead than why do I still feel pain?"_ he asked himself. Kirito knew he was the dead after Kayaba but he still feels the numbness and pain inside as if he was still….alive.

He opened his eyes very slowly and look at the ceiling of the room. He also heard a sound next to him that went beep every 2 seconds. He turned his head and saw a monitor with a heart animation and a bpm number logo.

" _Wait a minute…..plain ceiling….bpm monitor…IV in my arm….I'm in the hospital!"_ he thought in his head. He was here in the real world…..breathing.

 _"_ _Okay I've been inactive in my body for two years so let's try moving a bit."_ Kirito moved his fingers a bit and they were a little numb. "Come…on.." he strained as he moved his fingers a bit more. He repeated the process 10 more times before he felt complete movement in them.

"Okay…now…let's stand up." He then sat up slowly, feeling his body stagger a bit back and forth and moved both of his legs over the side and tried to stand up but he fell miserably as he came crashing down to the floor and made noise with the bpm monitor.

"Dammit.." he cursed himself as he reached up and turned off the annoying sound that click for a few seconds.

 _"_ _Okay, I can stand up on my own so I need something to support my legs."_ Kirito told himself as he put arms on the bed and pulled himself up to his knees barely holding on. He looked at his arm with the IV and followed the cord to the bag.

 _"_ _There this should help."_ He thought as he grabbed the stand and pulled himself up. He staggered again feeling his legs going down but he was determined to keep standing.

"No…you….don't." he was able to get his legs to stand tall although they were still wobbling a bit.

He then thought about the two people that he needed to see, he needed to find them now before he loses the ability to stand. His adopti…..no his mother, and his sister. He looked outside and saw that it was the afternoon, but it wasn't going to stop him from finding her.

"Sugu….." he started walking out of the room. As he reached the door, he looked outside to see anyone in the hall, surprisingly there was no one right now.

 _"_ _Maybe something happened."_ He shrugged mentally as he walked out in the hallway and passed down the rooms with one thing on his mind. Sugu.

He had hurt her when he was trapped in the game, she may try to deny it later but he knew that it was fault. Sugu and Midori had been suffering for the past two years because of him and he will regret it for as long as he lives.

"Kazuto…" he was brought out of his thoughts as he looked up and saw his mother Midori. Midori had tears pricked in her eyes as she walked slowly to her son that was in a coma for the past two years.

"M…M..Mom." Kirito strained his voice a bit calling her but it didn't matter as she pulled him into a hug tightly and cried tears of joy. He wrapped his arms around her in return and felt her cry even more on his shoulder.

"*sob*sob*sob* Kazuto." She cried to him as he smiled in return and replied.

"Hi…mom." His name…..he hadn't been called that in a long time. He felt a bit nostalgia from that but it didn't matter. He was here with his mother and that mattered. They've been like this for a few minutes not caring that other doctors and nurses were staring at them happily. Well why wouldn't they?

"Glad to see your awake Kazuto." Kirito and Midori both turned their heads and saw Takiguchi smiling softly at them. Kazuto was confused to who this person was that knew his name but his mother beat him to it.

"Kazuto, this is Takiguchi. She's been the nurse who's been watching over you for the past two years." Midori stated.

"Um….thank…you." he said before he wobbled a bit and was about to fall to the ground but Midort caught him.

"Is he going to be okay?" Midori asked worried.

"Oh don't worry, this isn't major or anything. His body's been inactive for two years and hasn't moved since then so everything is just numb right now." Takiguchi reassured her.

"So he'll be fine?" Midori asked again and Takiguchi nodded.

"Although I still have to give him a proper check-up before I can let him go you know."

"Right." Midori nodded as Takiguchi helped Kazuto backed into the room. Midori took this time to call her daughter and tell her about Kazuto.

 _"_ _She's gonna be so happy that you're awake Kazuto."_ Midori thought as she called Suguha.

* * *

 **With Sugu, Ryo, Kotone, Strea and Sachi:**

Ryo was driving as fast as he could around the city to the hospital. Even though he would get a ticket later he didn't care right now, his friend was alive. His buddy was alive after two years and a month being trapped in hell. He was going to get the girls there now, he wasn't going to miss this chance.

Sachi and Strea were extremely happy at the miracle that had occurred today. Kirito their friend, 'brother' was awake. Sachi was crying while they were on their way to the hospital. She couldn't help it, she was crying tears of joy and was unable to keep it in. Strea was also crying but not as much as her sister, she could finally thank the boy who reunited her and Sachi and this time she would have no regrets.

Kotone was both happy and sad about Kazuto. Happy because she could see him again but this time he would be awake and not lying in bed feeling cold and clammy. She was sad because she was worried about him. She had spent months searching for him in virtual reality always hoping that he would come around and visit but he never did or more like never could. Laughing Coffin being a huge part to the problem but also because of them he saw himself as dangerous to be around others and separated himself from her and the others. She was not going to let him be alone again, not when they are here to help him. Not this time.

Suguha was doing her best not to burst into tears. She wanted to see her brother again, she wanted to feel him in her arms alive and well. She was also worried about him, he was alone. In SAO, he didn't have a choice because of the murder guild. In the real world, she was right by him every day making sure he was still there but mentally he was alone. He was in the darkness for so long and had to go through so much and carry endless amounts of needless guilt. She promised last night that she wouldn't let him fall, she intends to keep it.

They arrived at the hospital and quickly got out of the car running into the building. They all stopped at the front desk quickly asking for checking in before ignoring it and running up the steps to the second floor.

They got out of the stairwell and encountered Midori along the way sitting down on the bench outside the room.

"Mom!"

"Suguha." They both hugged each other as the others caught up all panting since they ran here.

"Is it true mom, is Kazuto…." She trailed off before her mother nodded.

"Mmhmm, he's awake. I bumped into him walking in the hallway on his own, he's getting checked up by Takiguchi right now." She stated. They all had worried looks on their faces before she reassured them.

"Don't worry, his body is just extremely numb from being inactive for two years." They all sighed in relief after hearing her sentence.

"Good thing, we all know what that feels like and here I thought he wouldn't be able to help me with my activities." He said before feeling heat in the back of his head.

"What activites….Ryo?" Kotone said silently.

"Nothing, nothing at all." He waves his hands frantically before feeling another kick to the shin by her and pulling his ear like she did last night.

"OW owowowowow." Ryo grunted in pain as Kotone tightened her hold on his ear. Strea laughed at him while Sachi just sighed.

"They are sure a strange group of people." Midori said as she looked at them.

"Yeah but once you get to know them they're not that bad." Sugu said cheerfully while her mother sweatdrop at them.

"Right.." they both heard the door open and saw Takiguchi walk out the room with a smile on her face.

"Okay, he's all set you can go see him now." She said as she stepped aside. Everyone looked at each other before Strea spoke up.

"You should go see him Suguha." Sugu turned her attention to Strea and saw her smiling. Before she could protest Sachi spoke next.

"Strea's right. We've haven't seen him for a while but you haven't seen for two straight years so go ahead we don't mind waiting." Sachi encouraged as she got closer to Strea. Sugu turned her head to Kotone and Ryo who stopped their quarrel and talked to her.

"I can wait a little bit longer, go on and reconnect with him." Ryo said his piece.

"It's okay Suguha. We all know how much you missed him, so it's only fair that you see him first." Kotone told her. Even though she wanted to see him now, she could tell that Sugu needed it more than her right now.

Sugu nodded at her and went to her brother's room. She opened the door and closed it behind her and looked around the room for him. She looked in the middle of the room and there he was….. on the bed staring at the outside. He probably didn't hear her enter the room since he was deep in thought.

"…Kazuto…" she said as she clasped her hands over her mouth seeing her brother respond to her. They both looked at each other in silence. Sugu walked over to the bed and sat down seeing her brother who was still in shock as seeing her.

Sugu hesitantly raised her hand and put it on his cheek and was met with warmth. She started to shudder a bit feeling like she's about to burst any moment, it didn't help when Kirito put his own hand on hers and leaned into her warm hand.

"….Sugu…." he strained as he said her name. That was all it took for her to wrap her arms around him leaning her head on his shoulder. She silently sobbed into him as he wrapped his own arms around her in return and rubbed her back in soothing circles in comfort.

"*sob* You're okay, you're okay. *sob*" she muffled as she continued to cry. This was real, he was here…with her. that's all that matters.

After crying for a few minutes, she pulled back and looked at him. Now that he was awake, she could see it. She could see all the pain and sadness in his eyes for the past two years in SAO but she wouldn't show it to him, not now. Pushing those thoughts away, she reached out her hand to brush his bangs to the side of his face before giggling.

"It's been a while since your last haircut." She said. Kazuto chuckled and pull some of his hair from his bangs to see how long it was.

"Yeah, I think once I move again the first thing I'm going to do is get this dealt with." He replied.

"How are you feeling Oni-chan?" she asked him.

"Um…other than feeling numbness throughout most of my body I'm okay." He said but he could sense that she had more to say.

"No not that, I mean how do you really feel and I'm not taking a just leave be for an answer. Tell me now." She demanded him as she looked him in the eyes. Kirito knew he would have to tell her sooner or later but to be honest, he was scared.

"I'm okay physically but mentally I'm mixed up all over."

"I did some things that aren't ok but what I did was terrible. No matter how horrible they were, they didn't deserve to die but I didn't have a choice they….." he trailed off. He was trying to say this without freezing but he couldn't.

"Oni-chan, calm down." Sugu told him as she grabbed one of his hands and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I'm right here okay, calm down and take your time." She felt him slow down as his breathing became normal and he looked down at his lap instead of her.

"Sugu, I…..I…didn't mean to…..but…it was a murder guild and….i didn't want to but they would only leave if I was dead or if they were dead.

"What did you do Kazuto?" she asked. She already knew the answer to it but she could tell by his voice that he regretted it.

"I..had…killed…people." he said silently as he kept his gaze down. He knows she was either sick to her stomach and resent him or hate him for what he did but…..

"Oni-chan….look at me." She asked him but he didn't budge.

"Please look at me…..Oni-chan." He lifted his head a bit but it wasn't enough for her to see his face. She then scooted closer to her brother before she put both of her hands on his cheeks forcing him to look at her.

When he looked at her eyes he was expecting to see hatred, or resentment but he didn't get that. He saw sadness, kindness and understanding in her eyes.

"Kazuto….I know about what had happened to you in SAO…..and I don't care." That caught him off guard. He was about to speak but she continued.

"I know that you did what you had to survive. I know that you had to do everything by yourself and wander alone. I know that you had to take on a heavy burden all alone."

"I don't care about the killings that you had to do because I don't see a murderer in you. All I see is the same boy who was neglected for most of his life put his life on the line for others to survive, and fight for their freedom." She told him. Kazuto had tears pricked in his eyes and so did Suguha. She then brought their foreheads together and continued.

"Kazuto, no matter what you did in SAO, no matter what people say about you, it won't change anything. To me, you'll always be the same person I know. You'll always be Kazuto. I will always love you Oni-chan." She finished as she smiled softly at him and tears went down her face.

He couldn't believe it. After everything he did, he was forced to endure and how many people he had hurt, she still loved him and cared for him.

"I….I…I" he tried to speak but he shuddered as small sobs racked his body. Sugu continued smiling and pulled her brother into her chest as he cried. She then frowned at bit as she remembered hearing her brothers' words and seeing his eyes. They held so much torment, pain, sadness, and endless guilt.

 _"_ _I won't let you fall."_ She said again as she remembered her promise from the previous night. She was going to keep her promise and make sure of it.

After a few minutes, Kazuto calmed down and looked at his sister who was still smiling at him.

"Feel better?"

"A little bit, thanks sis." He said not realizing that he called Suguha sister. She felt her heart flutter when he called her that name again.

"Are you gonna be okay enough to see the others?"

"Others?"

"Mmhmm. Kotone, Ryo, and Sayuri twins."

"Who?"

"Oh my bad I forgot you don't know their real names but you do know their avatar names. Philia, Klein, Strea and Sachi." She reminded him. Kirito's eyes widened when realization came across his face.

"Aah, see it looks like you do remember them." Sugu said as she poked his cheek with her finger.

"DO you think they'll hate me for what I did?" he asked her. Sugu knew that he was afraid, she couldn't blame him but she also knew that he needs to know that they aren't mad at him.

"Kazuto…" she called out to him as she took a hold of his chin until it was looking at her.

"Just like me, they don't hate you or resent you in any way. If anything they're worried for you, I mean they've been searching for you for months in SAO and here. So don't worry about it okay?" she asked him.

"Okay, I would like to see them." He decided.

"Okay but first cover your ears." She instructed him making him look at her confusion.

"Why?"

"You'll see." She gave him a sweet smile. Kazuto knew that smile all too well and covered his ears, whenever Suguha gave him that smile it means that someone's in trouble or she's about to cause some mischief.

Suguha walked to the door and put her ear next to it. She heard some voices and nodded before getting back up. She took a big breath and screamed loudly into the door for 4 seconds before stopping. She opened the door and was met with Kotone, Ryo, Strea and Sachi tumbling onto the ground and groaning in pain as they covered their ears.

Midori poked her head in and looked at her daughter blankly. "Suguha was that really necessary for you to do?"

"I'm sorry mom but I had to. They can think of it as a lesson for eavesdropping on our conversation." She said.

"Like hell that was okay! You could've damaged our ears and made us deaf!" Ryo shouted as he looked at Suguha like she was crazy….which was a mistake. Suguha walked over to him and…kicked him hard in his nuts….before leaning down and looking at him with a sweet smile.

"I'm sorry but what was that again, you're not complaining are you because if I recall you guys are the ones who decided to eavesdrop?" she said sweetly scaring everyone but Midori and Takiguchi in the room.

"Nothing." Ryo said meekly as he was still recovering from the impact of the kick.

"Good. Oh, that's right you can remove your hands now Kazuto." She reminded herself and told him. Kazuto removed his hands before looking at Sachi, Strea and Kotone..Ryo was still on the ground.

Kirito made eye contact before he felt Sachi tackle him to the bed. She buried her face into his chest crying her eyes out while Strea came over and hugged his head. Kotone was still back at the door thinking whether she should go over or not but Suguha beat her to it.

"He's your friend too Kotone." Was she said before she gently pushed her to the bed. Once Sachi and Strea got up, Kotone slowly walked over to his side and kneeled. She reached out to touch his hand, she needed to know that this was real and he was here with them…..with her.

"Kirito.." she said silently as she looked into his eyes. He gave her a smile and replied.

"Hi…Philia.." he said to her. Kotone wrapped her arms around him and cried like Sugu did earlier. Everyone smiled at the event while Ryo stayed quiet and silently got up off the floor. Takiguchi took this time to speak.

"Kazuto is able to go home today you know." She announced.

"You mean..?" Sugu asked while Takiguchi nodded.

"That's why I did another check up on him earlier, he's all set to be released from the hospital today if you like." She told them.

"Thank you Takiguchi." Midori said to the nurse

"Hey guys, come outside really quick." Kotone asked them as she walked out the door. Everyone was confused by this but followed her all except Suguha. Kotone told her to stay put in the room before closing it.

"What's up Kotone?"

"I think we should wait on speaking to Kirito put our meeting with him tomorrow." Before Ryo and Sachi could protest, Kotone put her hand out stopping them.

"Look, I know that you want to talk to him again but…..I think we should give him the choice of talking to his family first before us." She suggested.

"She's right. I agree with Kotone on this, Kirito hasn't seen his mother or sister in two years and he was alone back in SAO since we couldn't find him." Strea pointed out.

"Okay. We waited for him this long, I don't mind waiting a few more hours." Sachi told them.

"Ryo…?" they all turned their heads at the redhead who was thinking.

"Yeah alright, I'm on bored. Still kind of sucks I have to wait to talk to him again." Ryo told them.

"That's because you're impatient." Kotone deadpanned.

"Agh! sometimes not all the time." He countered while Kotone only rolled her eyes.

"Alright then I guess we'll head out and see him tomorrow." He said.

"You guys go on ahead, I got to talk to Suguha." Kotone told them.

"All right, come on Sachi, Strea." He called out to them as he walked away with the twins in tow. Kotone walked opened the door halfway and called out to Suguha.

"Sugu, we're going to head out and see you tomorrow okay."

"Why is that?"

"Well we do but you and your mom just got him back and we don't to takeaway his choice of spending time with you guys. We can wait a bit longer so don't worry about us not liking it." She told Suguha.

"Okay, tell the others to meet at the house tomorrow."

"Right. See you later, and Sugu…"

"Hmm?"

"Please…..take care of him. His eyes….are not the same as they used to be." Kotone finished and walked to the exit to see the others leaving a sad Suguha.

She knew what Kotone was talking about of course she was going to watch over him. She wasn't going to let him go off anywhere without her being by his side.

She walked back into the room and sat down on the bed.

"Oni-chan."

"Hmm?"

"Are you ready to go home?"

"Yeah, I am but before we go…..can we get my hair dealt with first, I don't like having long hair." He said as he ran a hand through his hair groaning at how long it was.

Giggling slightly at him, Sugu nodded at him and ran her fingers through his hair.

"Don't worry I'll ask miss Takiguchi to cut it when she gets back." She said as he nodded. Kazuto was glad that he was back with his family again, he had a lot of time he had to make on.

* * *

 **Kirigaya Residence:**

The family was now at the house pulling into the driveway. Kirito looked up and saw his home the same as it was when he fell into a coma. He was also able to get his haircut to how it was originally, he was thankful to the nurse who helped his family comfort them while he was out.

He was pulled away from his thoughts when he felt Suguha tugged his arm.

"Kazuto, stop staring into deep space and come get reacquainted with your home." she said cheerfully as she pulled him out of the car and helped him walked to the door.

"Welcome home Kazuto." Suguha and Midori shouted as they all walked in. Kirito looked around the room and saw everything was the same as it was back then.

"I'll go and make some dinner for us." Midori called as she walked into the kitchen before calling out to Suguha.

"Make sure your brother gets to his room Sugu."

"Got it mom." She shouted back and looked over to Kirito.

"You don't have to do that sis, I don't want to impose on you." he said trying to walk on his own before he collapsed to the floor.

"Ouch." He groaned as Sugu stood over him with her hands on her hips and gave him a stern look.

"Oni-Chan, you just got out of the hospital and your legs don't have complete mobility in them so until then I'm going to take care of you." she said as she leaned down and looked at him. Kirito blushed a bit when her breasts jiggled a bit and turn his face away while nodding yes to her.

Suguha noticed his red face and wondered if he was burning a getting a fever but she realized the position she was in and smirked internally at him. She met guys that would stare at her chest sometimes like perverts but her brother wasn't one of them. She was glad that it was gentlemanly of him not to stare at her chest.

 _"_ _It's also kind of cute of how shy my brother is right now."_ She thought. She then got down and pulled him up and walked him up the stairs, him using her and the rail to stand a bit. After a few more steps, they arrived at his room and opened the door.

"Here we are Kazuto." She said as they looked around the room. Kirito noticed how clean the room was, he was at least expecting a lot dust since none of his things were touched for the past two years…..until realization dawned on him.

"Did you keep my room clean all this time?" he asked her as she settled him down on his bed.

"Me and mom both did. We didn't want you coming home to your still being all dusty and get you sick on the first day back, now would we?" she asked cheekily. Kirito look at her confused before smiling back.

He then felt her tackle him on the bed. He tried to get up but she was on top of him with her arms wrapped around his neck and her head on his shoulder. He was about to ask if she was okay but she spoke before he could.

"I'm really glad to have you back…..Oni-chan." She sighed softly into his neck as he wrapped his own arms around her body.

"Me too Imouto-chan. Me too." He told her. Sugu opened her eyes in shock but soon close them back as she smiled gently at him and rubbed her cheek against his in affection. He hadn't called her that in forever and she missed it, she was glad she had her brother back.

* * *

 **Kirigaya Residence (Night):**

"Stop…..plea…s…e…st…o..p" Suguha woke up to those sounds of someone talking. She looked at her clock and it was about midnight.

"It's midnight." She said as she yawned. She was about to go back to sleep but she heard the sounds again but a little louder.

"I..m…so…rry…..i'm…..s…o… " Sugu got out of bed realizing that it was her brother's voice. He was making those sounds. She ran out of her room and into his only to frown at the sight of her brother.

He was shaking back and forth on his bed and looked like he was in pain. She walked over to him and pressed a hand against his forehead. He felt clammy and wet, he was having a nightmare.

"Stop…please…..leave me alone…please." He was starting thrash around in his bed a bit and looked like he was about to shout in agony. Sugu grabbed him by his shoulders shaking him trying to free him of his torment.

"Kazuto! Wake up! It's just a dream!" she yelled at him. He didn't seem to hear her as he started to whimper. He was trapped in his mind and he couldn't get out on his own not anymore.

"Kazuto!" she shouted again at him. This time he seem wake up in fear and instinctively shuffle backwards against the wall in fear not knowing who was in front of him.

"Kazuto, it's okay. It's me Suguha." She told him softly as his frantic eyes went back to normal and his breathing began to slow down.

"I saw them….I saw their faces…..I….they…I was…" he stuttered before he looked at Sugu who was in front of him. He looked at his hands remembering the blood that was on their in his nightmare and he slowly cried.

His shoulders shook as he silently sob at his nightmare of what he did. He killed so many people not by choice but it was still him. He did it of his own free will and he will never forget that.

Sugu frowned at her brother. He was having flashbacks of the people he killed but he was scared. He was reliving the past of those he had killed.

 _"_ _It wasn't his fault, they were all killer from Laughing Coffin. He had no choice but…he had taken lives….oh my god….oni-chan."_ She thought as she realized in horror at what's been troubling him. He had taken lives, the lives of people who were killers but it didn't matter. TO her, he was trying to survive but to him, he thinks he's a killer himself and was no better than Laughing Coffin.

"Oni-chan…" she said as she crawled on the bed to him and reached out only for his arm to stop her.

"No Sugu….I…..I'm didn't want you too….I….*sob*" he trailed off as he started sobbing and covered his eyes. Suguha got closer to him and wrapped her arms around him burying his face into her chest and laid her chin on top of his head.

She then felt her brother tightly wrapped his arms around her as he wailed loudly into her chest. Sugu just sat there rocking him back and forth giving him comfort and calming him down.

"It's okay, it's okay." She softly shushed him as she pressed a gentle kiss onto his forehead.

"I'm right here…..I'm not going anywhere." She promised him as she continued her ministrations with him. She knew the nightmares would return but she didn't care. She wasn't going to leave him alone again, not after what happened tonight.

She already lost him once before, she wasn't going to lose him again. She was going to protect him from anything harmful to him no matter what.

She wasn't going to let him fall.


	4. Past Demons and Dark Partners

**Kirigaya Residence:**

It was about 7 in the morning as sunlight hit Sugu in the face forcing her to wake up. She groaned a bit before opening her eyes and sat up. She rubbed her eyes a bit before looking at her surroundings, she realized that she was not in her room and was in Kazuto's.

Panic spread across her face as she quickly searched the room for her brother only to find him right next to her still asleep. She sighed in relief before looking back at him, she then reached out her hand and ran her fingers along his hair smiling as he leant into her touch.

" _He's okay, he's still here…with me."_ She thought to herself. It's been a few days since he's woken up from his coma and these past few days haven't been exactly good to him. He's been punctuated by violent nightmares of himself killing people or seeing the faces of those he's had killed, each one worse than the last. He's been at this for a week.

Suguha has been staying with him at night to help keep his nightmares at bay. Until he had no more nightmares, she decided to sleep with him. Without question, she had told their mother Midori about his nightmares. She was skeptical a bit first but seeing her son sleep-deprived and staggering a bit every day meant he was trying to stay awake avoiding sleep, so she allowed Sugu to help him sleep even if he didn't want it. She had also told Ryo, Kotone, Sachi, and Strea. Hearing about they all decided that they should keep an eye on him whenever they were at school. When Sugu wasn't in the same class with Kazuto, she would make sure that one of the other three were keeping an eye on him. Speaking of him….

"Kazuto…Time to wake up Oni-chan." Sugu said as she poked and pulled his cheek like he did with her in the past. Kazuto groaned before lazily pushing her hand on of his face and tried to bury his head further into his pillow.

"Come on, Kazuto you got to get up." She said while giggling at him. Kazuto opened his eyes before sitting up and stretched out his arms as he yawned. He rubbed his eyes before turning his head to Sugu.

"Morning Oni-chan." She greeted.

"Morning." He replied as he looked away from her.

"What's wrong Kazuto?"

"Oh nothing, I'm okay just…a bit…never mind don't worry about it." He told her. Sugu not buying the act, crawled over to him and leaned right into his face pouting.

"Kazuto."

"Sorry." Suguha then frowned when the next question she asked froze him still. "Kazuto…when did you start cutting yourself?"

He froze in fear of that she knew about his cuts on his arms. He was about to wonder how until realization dawned on his face, he was in coma and put in the hospital meaning that they saw the cuts….his adoptive—his mother and sister saw them..

" _Dammit."_ He cursed himself mentally.

"I've…..I've…I guess you could say when school started before SAO." He said quietly as he looked away from her.

"So three years ago?" she asked as he nodded.

"Right after a year at school, I didn't fit in. I would always avoid people since I couldn't really approach them since I only knew you but I know you enjoyed doing kendo a lot and had some friends I guess; I'm not sure I didn't ask you but I didn't want to impose on you so I just…..shut myself out from the world." He explained.

Sugu frowned at how her brother looked at the situation. She was a little mad that he didn't come talk to her at the time about stuff like that but she knew that he didn't want to be a burden to her which made her a little happy and sad that he thought about her needs before his own.

"Afterwards, I started hearing these….voices."

"Voices." She asked as he nodded.

"They sounded really deep and full of…anger. It told me that you can never escape from your past, you can never be happy….you can never be free of your darkness." He repeated those words like a mantra as he stared at the sheets with empty eyes. Sugu grasped his hands with her own and gently squeezed them giving some comfort.

"At first, I thought it was just my imagination but then they appeared in my dreams haunting me and then later they became hallucinations." He frowned at her before returning his gaze to the bed once more.

Suguha was thinking to herself about his demons. He was having these hallucinations for so long and he never said anything about it. Why didn't he? Did he not trust her enough or was that the time where he felt alone and just kept his distance away from her?

"What about your cuts?" she asked gently.

"It happened while I was sleeping. When I woke up from an intense nightmare I would feel something on my arm. I saw blood soaked into my sleeves, so when I rolled them up, I found a gash in my arm. I guessed when my nightmares get too intense I would cut something in there only to cut myself out here." He paused for a bit as Suguha stayed silent and continued her ministrations with his hand.

And when I was trapped in SAO it got worse. It was after I ran into a bunch of murderers over the years, whenever I go to sleep my nightmares, I see the faces of those I…..killed." he explained as he absently rubbed his right arm.

' _That explains both the cuts and sleep deprivation. He's been avoiding sleep so he doesn't have to relive those moments. I know he was only protecting his friends but he thinks that he became a killer and was no better than them…..Kazuto.'_ Sugu couldn't even begin to imagine what he had to live through every day for the past three years. She then wondered about the past days, if he would hurt himself then why didn't he unless…..

' _Since I'm here with him, he can't hurt himself. Good. As long as I'm with him he can't do anything dangerous to himself.'_ She finished thinking. She then engulfed her brother into a tight hug confusing him.

"Kazuto, I can't say that I understand of what you're going through and how lost you are but I can tell you that you don't have to face it alone. You got me and kaa-san to help you, plus there's Kotone, Ryo Strea and Sachi. We can help you get through this, if you feel like you're losing yourself in darkness we'll pull you out and keep you here with us." She said softly.

"Sugu…" It's times like these that made Kirito wonder why he ever push her away in the past? Even though he was distant, she was always worried about him and see if he was okay. He felt even more guilty that he tried to keep her away and remain alone.

"Sugu…..I'm sorry that I…that I pushed you awa-" he was cut off when she put a finger to his lips.

"That's in the past Kazuto. I knew back then you didn't feel like you fit in with us and tried to keep your distance, but even with that it wouldn't stop me from helping you or talking with you so you could feel like you belong with us. Nothing would stop me from being your sister." She finished.

"Thank you…..Imouto-chan." He whispered as he wrapped his arms around her not noticing the small smile on her face. The two stayed siblings stayed in that position for a few moments before they let go.

"Feeling better?" she asked him.

"Thanks to you."

"Good. Oh that's right!"

"What?" he asked confusedly.

"Today's Saturday."

"And?"

"Aanndd, I forgot that I talked with Kotone the other day about all of us hanging out today."

"What?...Wait when did this happen?"

"Kotone and I've been talking about your uh?"

"My depression?" he asked bluntly.

"Yeah. Sure. That's one way of putting it. Anyway, she thought that we should all hang out today, plus she wants to help you to keep your mind off SAO." Sugu explained.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea but um…what are we exactly doing once we get there?"

"You'll see~~~" she teased sending shivers down Kazuto's spine.

" _Whenever her voice sounds like that, for some reason it scares me to no end. Reminds me of a certain rat, I wonder how she's doing since the game was cleared."_ He thought to himself before looking back at his sister.

"So when do we leave?"

"After breakfast, so hurry up and get dress okay." She didn't give him a chance to finish as she hopped off the bed and left the room to get dress. Kazuto laughed quietly before he stopped and stared at his hands. He still couldn't get that image out of his head, seeing blood stained by his hands sent tremors to his body as he clenched his hands.

" _Will they see me as a scared teenager or…..someone who's nothing but a bloody murderer?"_ he thought darkly. No matter what Suguha said, he just couldn't see himself as scared….all he saw was a killer who had no remorse for the murderers in SAO and…he was no better than them.

Out in the hallway, Suguha was leaning against the door clutching her chest tightly as her brother's words replayed in her head.

Tears gathered in her eyes before she quickly wiped them away and shook her head. _"No, no more tears. I have to be strong for him, I can't leave him alone either. These…dreams or hallucinations or whatever they are….it's causing him so much pain and his eyes are filled with so much guilt."_ She thought as she walked into her own room. She slipped out of her pajamas into her red jacket with a blue tank top underneath and black compression shorts. She then slipped out of her room and went downstairs to make breakfast since Midori was at work as usual.

She entered the kitchen and opened the fridge while thinking to herself. _"So what should I make for breakfast?"_ As she was thinking she didn't hear Kazuto come down the steps and into the kitchen.

"Hey." Suguha was brought out of her thoughts as she turned her attention to him. He was wearing dark pants with a black long sleeve t-shirt.

"Do you have to wear black all the time Oni-chan?" She asked while giggling.

"Why, what's so bad about me wearing black?" he asked raising an eyebrow at her.

"Nothing. It's just that there's not a day I can remember you wore anything but black. You trying to go goth or something? She asked him with a smirk on her face.

"No…and I appreciate if you never ask me that again." He said as he walked by her and sat at the table.

"I'm just teasing you okay, lighten up." She said as she tried to earn a smile on his face but instead he look at the table and said "No thanks, I'm good." Sighing to herself, Sugu just went back to the fridge to get out ingredients for breakfast.

* * *

 **A few minutes later:**

After eating breakfast, Suguha and Kazuto left the house and took the city bus into town. As they did Suguha talked to her brother about what's been happening over the two years he's been inactive.

"So you've been playing computer games?" he asked in bewilderment.

"Mmmhmm. You could say I started a year ago while you were in the hospital, I kind of got bored. I love doing Kendo but with you out in a coma and mom working all the time there wasn't really much I had to do outside of that."

"So I started playing a game called Alfheim Online." She said. Before he could say anything, she placed a hand up stopping him.

"I know what you're going to say and I'm fine. Right before the game was launched someone named Sugou was caught doing something illegal when the game was created. He was trying manipulate players emotions while they were in the game basically you could say that he was trying to control their minds with his own hands."

"So how did he get caught?"

"Kayaba."

"What?" he asked confused by her answer because the said man was long gone. Well his life in the real world was but his spirit not entirely. "Kayaba left a recording message and evidence saying that he knew one day if he was gone or not that Sugou would try to do something really bad that was worse than death itself or something along the lines like that. Sugou would use his technology as his own and do something that would allow him to control and manipulate emotions and break their minds by his own two hands." She explained with an angered expression on her face.

"Well at least he's behind bars." Kazuto said.

"Yeah, he even tried to blame everything on Kayaba but it was pointless either way no one has heard of the crazy man since then." Suguha said. The bus came to a stop signaling her that they were here.

"Come on oni-chan." She said as she grabbed his hand pulling him with her as they got off the bus and onto the sidewalk. As soon the bus left, Kazuto turned around and saw the school buildings in view.

"Um…Sugu….why are we back at school?" he asked her. She only pointed to the side and saw their group of friends. Kotone, Sachi and Strea. They waved at them as they walked over to the duo. Kazuto feeling unsure on what to do stood still. He wasn't sure how they would react to him, Suguha said that they see him as their friend.

If so then why was he having doubts about that? Has his own madness caused him to start question everything around him? Or is he slowly losing his mind?

He was brought out of his thoughts when Suguha placed a hand on his shoulder as she looked at him worry etched across her face. "Kazuto. You don't need to worry about it okay? I told you no matter what nothing will change okay?" she said hoping that he would listen.

"Okay." He nodded as she smiled at him. He could see that she and the others were willing to show him that he is still the same person they know and not someone else.

"Hey guys." They both looked at Strea who greeted them happily as did Sachi and Kotone.

"Hey. Sorry we're a bit late." Sugu apologized.

"Yeah someone wanted to make sure I got out of bed and not stay in locked in my room all day sleeping." Kazuto said as Suguha gave him a playful glare. "Well maybe if you weren't a vampire then all the time then I wouldn't have to now would i?"

"Vampire? I thought vampires weren't real?" Sachi asked as she tilted her head in confusion. Strea decided to play with her sister, seeing this as an opportunity.

"Oh, vampires are real baby sister. I mean they do like to sleep all day but when night falls that's when they're active."

"B-But there's no way Kirito's a vampire, r-right?" Sachi stuttered not noticing the chesire grin on her sister's face.

"Oh really, hey Kirito~~ is it true that you tend to sleep all day and play computer games all night?" Strea teased.

"Well I don't sleep all day, I do practice fighting with Suguha from time to time though I'm usually worn out the next day but other than that I don't-" he paused as he saw the scared expression on Sachi's face while Strea was trying to stifle her laughs but was failing miserably.

"I just confirmed that I was a vampire didn't I?" he asked blankly as Strea just started laughing like crazy while Sachi hid behind Kotone who just sighed in exhaustion and Suguha just giggled at the antics while patting her brother on the shoulder.

"I don't know if I should be either laughing or annoyed at this." He said glaring at Strea.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. *hahaha* I'm sorry." Strea was holding her stomach as she continued laughing.

"Not funny sis." Sachi said pouting at her sister.

"Your right. It was hilarious." Strea chuckled as she slowly calmed down from her antics with her sister.

"You done?" Sachi asked.

"Yep."

"Where's Klein?" Kazuto asked as he finally noticed that the red haired man was nowhere to be seen.

"He said he would meet up with us later, as for right now we are going to exploring." Kotone said.

"Exploring?"

"Yep. We're going to go around the city to explore, you know sightseeing and all that." Strea said.

"I don't-"

"Kazuto Kirigaya if you say I don't feel like it I will knock you out and drag you around the city myself understand?" Suguha said with a sweet smile on her face which terrified all of them.

"Okay, fine." He replied with a hint of fear.

"That's what I thought."

"Now off let's go." She said as she pushed her brother forward and into the city leaving behind the three girls.

"I'll be honest I knew she was scary but that smile of hers freaks me out." Strea said sheepishly.

"It just goes to show that if you either mess with her, get on her bad side, anger her for no reason, or hurt her brother in anyway she'll kill you." Kotone said bluntly making the Sayuri twins looked at her in disbelief.

"Do you have to be so blunt with your answers towards everybody when asked a question?"

"Do you have to be so straight forward with your answers towards everybody when asked a question?" Sachi asked her and then Strea added. "Sorry but that's just how I act. Thank you very much." She replied as she started walking off to catch up with the two.

"Do you think she'll ever admit that she has feeling for Kazuto?" Sachi whispered to Strea who just sighed.

"I don't know, if anything from what I can tell they're both oblivious right now so anything we do to try and get them to tie-the-knot would be pointless." Strea said.

"Aww, I really wanted to mess with them and get them together~~" she whined while Sachi just looked at her in silence.

"Please tell me you weren't actually thinking of plans of having to play matchmaker with those two?" she asked while Strea sheepishly scratched her cheek and gave her sister a sheepish smile.

Sachi just sighed at her before walking ahead. "Hey, Sachi wait up I was only joking." She said as she caught to her. _'Not really'._

As the five walked around the city they started talking to each other about different things. Sachi and Suguha were up ahead chatting while Kazuto stayed behind and wanted ask Kotone a question.

"Hey Kotone."

"Hmm?"

"Are you alright?" he asked her with a stern expression on his face startling her a bit.

"Y-Yeah I'm okay. Why do you have ask?" she was curious onto why he was concerned about her not that she didn't appreciate it and secretly liked it.

"Suguha told me about your chat with Asuna." As soon as those words left his mouth, she held her head down and frowned. She didn't want him to know how weak she was, not being able to stand up on her own. Strea noticing this walked up ahead and took Sachi and Suguha by the hand and dragged them into a nearby restaurant.

"Sister?"

"Where are we going?"

"We're giving them time to talk." She said as she gave the two one last look before pushing Sugu and Sachi into the restaurant.

"Please don't be angry with me." She muttered to herself forgetting that he was right next to her.

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"I-I couldn't stand up for myself. She talked about you and said then….she said she knew about you dying and all I did was freeze in fear….I-I was scared of her being right… I-I was scared of losing you…i-I was…" Kotone was about to cry until Kazuto wrapped his arms around her. She sighed in contempt, loving the warm embrace he was giving.

"I'm sorry Kotone. I'm sorry that I wasn't awake aroud the same time as everyone else was." He apologized to her. He was also burning with anger when he thought about Asuna, he knew that girl had a split persona but this was too far. Then he remembered why no else in SAO would partner up with her and when he was forced to…

" _No one was able to handle that split personality of hers. I only knew about it because I encountered her during a quest and well…..crap hit the fan reeeeaaal quick."_

"It's not your fault. There's no need to be sorry, if anything we're sorry for not finding you in SAO." She whispered.

"No Kotone. I didn't want to put you or anyone else I care about in danger. I rather have my friends alive and happy without me than dead because of me." He replied.

"Kazuto.."

"It looks like you woke up after all didn't you Kirito~" Kotone froze and her eyes widened in fear while Kazuto's widened in anger. As he turned around he saw none other than his rival and forced acquittance from SAO Asuna Yuuki. She was wearing a pink sweater with a white coat and black mini shorts with white mid-heels.

Kazuto glared at her while Kotone looked at her in slight fear before glaring at the girl as well. "Why are you here Asuna?" he said heatedly.

"Aw what's wrong, I'm not allowed to check on my old partner who was slowly dying in the hospital about a week ago?" she asked as she tilted her head in a cute manner. Kotone suddenly felt angry at her and wanted to say something but Kazuto beat her to it.

"Don't you mean _**forced partner**_?" he asked making her giggle in amusement.

"Yep it's you alright. Only you can humor me like that." She replied.

"What do you want Asuna?" he growled dangerously making people around them looked at them in confusion. When Kazuto turned his glare at the crowd they shivered and went back to their activities. So he pulled both Asuna and Kotone by their wrists into an empty alley before letting go.

"You were saying?" he growled again

"I just want to have a little chat with you…..you know like old friends." She said as she clapped her hands together and gave them an innocent smile, indwardly smirking as she saw Kotone's expression of anger. She then reached hand out to touch his face but before she could get far Kotone slapped it away.

"Don't even touch him Asuna!" she hissed making the chestnut-haired girl looked at her in annoyance before she let out a few giggles and spoke again.

"Relax. I'm not trying to hurt him or anything after all, it's just a conversation between two old friends. WE don't need a third wheel interrupting." She emphasized.

"Why you…."

"Kotone." The said girl stopped at his voice, it sounded so…..dark and malice…..

' _ **Wait, I remember him using that tone towards Laughing Coffin when they tried to kill us…..what is he planning?'**_ she thought as she turned her head to him and saw his eyes. They were different, they were no longer filled kindness but instead were replaced with hatred and malice.

"Kazuto." She said worried about him.

"I'll be fine….okay?" he reassured her as he turned his head and gave her a ghost smile. Kotone nodded but was still worried about the outcome of their talk. She placed her hand on his arm gently before speaking.

"Please…be careful." She pleaded at him. After giving him one last worried look and Asuna a heated glare, Kotone walked out of the alley and into the restaurant where the other girls were at. As soon as she was gone Kirito turned his attention back to Asuna.

"Now that she's gone I can finally speak. Kirito…how should I put this?" she said as she placed a finger on her cheek. "Okay…..how does your body feel? You been inactive more than anybody trapped in SAO but more importantly how do you feel?" she asked in a caring tone.

Kazuto hated it whenever she does this. Asuna was always switching her persona in and out from sadistic and malevolent to kind and warm-hearted. She stays in her cold sadist side towards everyone she's met his friends included. She's only caring towards those she's made friends with but with him…..it was different. She would do both personas with him…and that's the part that confuses him deeply.

"I'm fine." He replied before hearing her chuckle a bit.

"Oh please. Kirito I know you better than your sister does, you try and deny it all you want but….." she paused a bit as she walked towards and leaned into his ear.

"….you're still the killer that everyone remembers." She whispered causing to him flinch slightly before his breathing to get erratic.

"Shut….up…" he said silently as he clenched his fists in anger. He could tolerate her attitude and persona but she wasn't trying to tease him no…..she was trying to bring out his own dark half. She always would….for some reason ever since she saw him kill a few Laughing Coffin Members she's been trying to get that side out more often but he's not sure exactly why.

Asuna was enjoying herself watching Kirito's inner torment, as much as her caring side wanted to stop herself, her sadistic side wanted to see Kirito's dark side again. When she was on missions to killing Laughing Coffin Members, she was praise for taking out murderers while Kirito was looked at with hate and disgust and fear for killing people. It sickened her. Because of the first boss everyone took out and Kibaou just had to place the blame on beta testers for losing a friend, Kirito had to step up and make himself look like the bad guy in order to prevent chaos for everyone.

"Do you know what I want Kirito?" she asked him. That made him raised an eyebrow in question.

"What is it, besides tormenting my mental state and everything I thought you already have something you want." He asked.

"There's one thing that I want, and right now he's standing right in front of me. Problem is he's surrounded by his sister and friends preventing me from taking him." Asuna said as a twisted smile came across her face. Kirito was ready to retort until realization hit his mind from what the said girl wanted…..him.

"Me?...What do you want me for?" he asked her. Asuna walked towards him as he took a caution step back until his back hit the wall cornering himself. _'Dammit.'_ He silently cursed. He wasn't afraid of Asuna, he was afraid of losing himself. Asuna would always try to find a way to bring out his darkness, the pain and suffering he had to live with for two years but he resisted it.

"Kirito." She whispered as she placed her hands on his cheeks making him nervous not knowing what she would do next. _"He's so cute."_ She commented mentally as she stroked her thumb over both his cheeks.

"Why do you fight it?"

"….what?"

"why do you fight the darkness that's inside of you? why do you not embrace instead of letting it control you?" she asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"…I have control over it." He said silently as he looked away from her only to be forced to look back into her eyes.

"No…..I'm afraid you don't. You've may had hid it well from your friends and sister but you can't hide that side from me. They only seen the remnants of those you've killed….what do you think they will feel when they see you completely kill someone with no remorse?" she asked him. Kirito didn't flinch on the outside but on the inside he was trembling. Asuna was right they've only seen him kill someone that was last survivor they never seen him kill head on…..if they did…..

"…How about this?" she said as she stepped back from him and removed her hands confusing him. He was about it to talk when he felt a sense of danger hit him and moved his head to the side on instinct. As he did he saw Asuna holding a small knife in her hands.

"What the hell? UGH!" Asuna thrusted her knee into his gut knocking the wind out of him. The impact caused him to cough up spit before getting hit with swift kick to the face sending him to the wall. The collision arched his back as he slid down to the ground leaning against the wall. He had a bit of blood coming out of his mouth while struggling to get back up.

Asuna was already in front of him as she sat down on his lap and spread out his arms stabbing a knife through his wrists into the wall pinning him there.

Kirito gritted his teeth in pain as he tried not to scream from the sharp objects in his arms. He couldn't fight back because his body was still out of it from the inactivity and his lack of sleep.

"Dammit." He silently cursed as Asuna placed a hand on his cheek enjoying the expressions of pain on his face. She then took out another knife and gently dragged it across his cheek cutting his skin and drawing a little bit of blood.

What happened next sent shivers down his spine, Asuna moved her head to his wounded cheek before dragging her tongue smoothly across his cheek tasting the blood. "Mmm. Your blood tastes so sweet just like I thought it would." Asuna said gaining a dark glare from Kirito.

"Oh right, I guess I should give you mine too. It only makes it fair right?" Asuna asked as she rolled down her sleeve on her left arm. She then moved the blade over the exposed skin and cut it open slowly as blood started to drip from her wrist.

" _What the hell? Did she seriously cut her arm just for some blood to give, I am not drinking that." He thought as he tried to move his arms but winced in pain._

"Come on Kirito, you gave me a taste of your blood so it's only fair if I do the same thing for you." She encouraged as she nudged her arm at him but instead of accepting it he just turned away before muttering a few words.

"I am not drinking your blood. I'm not a vampire nor am I sick twisted in the head like you." he said heatedly trying to make her angry but all that did was make her smirk at him.

"I was actually hoping you wouldn't accept it that, so I decided to do something else." She said as she then bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.

"Your right. You are not as sick in the head as I am…..not yet." She whispered the last part to him seductively making him shiver in slight fear.

"What are you—mmph!" Kirito asked but was interrupted when Asuna pulled him close and pressed her lips gently against his.

Kirito shocked at her actions felt like his body was in a trance and he couldn't fight back even if he wanted too while Asuna was enjoying herself in their little intimate moment.

As they kissed, Asuna massaged her tongue with his making sure that her blood went down his throat while the boy was still in shock. _"Good thing, I pinned his arms to the wall otherwise he would've thrown me to the wall right now. Speaking of the said boy…."_ She brought herself back to reality as she parted her lips from his both dripping with saliva. She wiped off his saliva and her own with her fingers before sucking them dry.

"What….the…hell..was that for?" Kirito asked still in shock by her actions. As Asuna finished sucking her fingers she turned her attention back to the downed boy.

"You're mine and mine alone Kirito. I gave you a present." She said bluntly.

"A present!? I wouldn't exactly call this a present you know being pinned to the wall with knives in your wrists and then being kissed with someone's blood going down your throat! Yeah that kind a present really makes everything go perfect." He said sarcastically gaining a few giggles from the girl in front of him.

"Like I said earlier, only you can humor like this. But I do mean what I said earlier Kirito…." She paused as she removed the knives from his wrists and put them back in her pockets ignoring the fact that they were blood soaked and took out a few bandages from her purse.

"…..you're the only one that can fully endure both sides of me. Everyone else may as well be damned." Asuna said as she wrapped some bandages around his right wrist like a mummy before switching to his left. After wrapping up his left, she put the tape back into her purse and turned her attention back to Kirito.

"I'm afraid I have to leave you for now Kirito. I have other…..matters to attend to but until then…" Asuna paused again as she placed a hand on his cheek.

"Try not to die on me again." She kissed him again on the lips before parting and stood up. "See you later, Kirito." Asuna waved as she walked out of the alleyway and into the city leaving the said boy alone in his thoughts.

Nothing made sense to him right now, Why the hell did Asuna kissed him? More importantly what did she mean when she said he was hers? All these thoughts brought him out of his slump as he remembered that his friends were waiting for him at the restaurant.

"Right….guess I better get back there. Tch, dammit my wrists hurt like hell." He cursed as he picked himself up and rubbed his wounded wrists.

"She is going to be so pissed when she sees my arms." Kirito said to himself referring to his sister who is about to have a rampage as soon as he walks in.

As he walked in the restaurant, he found the girls standing in the far back with Klein who probably came in while he was talking to Asuna. As soon as he walked up to them, Suguha approached him with a worried look on her face.

"Kazuto what happened? Kotone told us about you talking to Asuna and-" Suguha stopped talking as soon as she saw what looked like blood on his wrists. She quickly grabbed his left wrist ignoring her brother wincing in pain as she looked at blood soaked sleeve. The girls also saw his wrist as gasped in horror while Klein looked at his friend in worry.

"What the? Dude, why are your wrists all bloody like that?" Klein asked worriedly.

"It's nothing, I'm fine." Kazuto replied. The last thing he wanted was to get his sister and friends involved with his problems with Asuna. She may be smart but she also has a short fuse if pushed the wrong way and he could not take that chance with his friends.

"Could you excuse us for a second?" Suguha asked before walking off tightening her hold on her brother's wrist not letting go. While the two headed outside, the others looked at each other in worry.

"So, anyone wanna take a guess on why his wrists are cut open?" Klein asked.

"You don't think he started cutting himself, do you?" Sachi asked completely worried about Kirito once she saw his blood.

"No, no, no Sachi. Kirito's strong, there's no way he would try to end his life or cause himself self-harm like that." Strea said sternly. If she only knew.

"Then why is he-?"

"It's because something happened in his conversation with Asuna." Kotone pointed out as she looked at them.

"What do you mean?"

"She may have attacked him." Kotone muttered heatedly as she clenched her fists.

"What? Why would she do that?"

"I don't know but she told me that she would like to talk to her _old partner_." She retorted.

"Partner!?" Sachi and Strea exclaimed in unison.

"There's no way Kirito would partner up with her unless he was forced to…..he was forced to wasn'the?"

"Either that or they bumped into each other."

"It's not us she wants, her objective is Kirito himself."

"Geez, what does that girl want with him?" Klein asked.

"I could never figure her out, she always talks about how he was the only one who could truly understand her, the only person she felt so comfortable being around with." Kotone said.

"What about her friends?"

"Them too but for some reason she's always had her eye on Kirito. And that worries me" she finished.

"I don't get it though, whenever we hear about Kirito it's when he has taken out another group of Laughing Coffin on a different floor or has completed a quest. I've never heard of him forced to work with Asuna." Sachi stated.

"I think Kirito didn't want anymore chaos spreading like the beta testers when the game first started, so he kept people in the dark." Strea said.

"Wouldn't the Blood Knights have known about him working with Asuna?" Klein asked.

"They probably didn't care about it, remember the news update from 6 months ago. They were put out reports of having under a _leash_ to keep him grounded from killing people."

"And Asuna just let it happen?"

"Like I said her objective was Kirito, if she wanted him she would go after him herself."

"And I'm guessing things didn't end well when she found out about it?" Klein asked them. All girls nodded no because they met up with Kirito and Asuna back then only to find out that they were on the run.

"Someone wasn't. A few days later and entire guild raid directed the Blood Knights was ambushed when they going to a boss fight on the 40th floor…or was it the 50th?" Kotone wondered.

"I think it was the 50th."

"Who were they ambushed by?"

"Probably Laughing Coffin, they do killing quests remember?" Klein reminded them only for Strea to shake her head in disagreement.

"No it wasn't them….it was one person." All them stood still shocked that an entire guild raid was taken out by one person.

"How many?"

"100."

"W…..what?"

"All those people."

"Who has enough skill and power to take on that many people?"

"I don't know. All I remember is that was why Kirito and Asuna were on the run around that time."

"But aside from all of that, what does Asuna want with Kirito?" Sachi asked looking at her sister who was thinking the same thing, Klein just grunted while Kotone just sighed to herself."

"I don't know."

 **Same Time with Kazuto and Suguha:**

"Oni-chan what happened back there?" Sugu asked him with her arms crossed. She pulled them back to the same alley where Kirito talked with Asuna not noticing the blood on the wall….yet.

"Nothing much. I'm fine okay."

"Kazuto you are not fine, what aren't you telling me?"

"Can we just not talk about this right now Sugu, I'm a little exhausted?" he asked her. She wanted to protest but she could see that his conversation with Asuna took its toll on his brain and he was starting waver a bit.

"What the hell did she do to you Kazuto? Why did she talk to you and what was it about?...is she responsible for this?" She asked rapidly before pointing to his bloody wrist.

"I honestly don't know what she wants but *sigh* can talk about this at home please?" he asked her again. This time instead of arguing she sighed in acceptance. "Okay….i'll go tell the others that we'll have to meet up again another time, come on." Both siblings exited the alley with Suguha's hand holding Kazuto's refusing to let him go until they were home. After telling the others that they would meet up again, Sugu dragged Kazuto home wanting to know what had happened to them.

* * *

 **At Night:**

It was around 9 o'clock and the two teens, after getting into their pajamas, were in Kazuto's room on the bed silent. Suguha wanted him to tell her his conversation about Asuna but she also didn't want to rush him. As far as she knew his mental was still a little unbalanced because of his nightmares so she was willing to wait until he was ready. Speaking of which…..

"Okay Kazuto, I want you to tell me everything you talked about in your conversation with Asuna." She said as she sternly looked at him. Kazuto sighed.

"Alright, so this is what I remember. While I was chatting with Kotone, we were interrupted when Asuna came out of nowhere and started talking. I didn't want her to antagonize Kotone so I sent her to meet you guys before I resume talking.

"As soon as Kotone leaves, Asuna starts playing games with me. Her voice was filled with concern and kindness for a moment before she reminded me of who I was…..a killer." Sugu slightly flinched at that before recomposing herself and motioned him to continue.

"She then told me there was one thing that she wanted ever since she entered SAO."

"And what would that be?"

"Me."

"…what?" Sugu asked dumbfounded at his answer. _'What the heck could she want with my brother? Is she trying to use him or something or….does she actually see him_ _ **that**_ _way?'_ Sugu asked herself mentally. She didn't want to think that the girl that toyed with Kotone and basically caused her friends problems was either falling or possibly is in love with her brother.

"A little later we talk for a bit more and then all of a sudden she attacked me out of the blue by kneeing me in the gut and sent me crashing to the wall, afterwards she embedded her knives into both of my wrists." He explained as he held up his wrists that were wrapped up in bandages.

"She attacked you?"

"More like she caught me off guard but what she did next completely put me in shock…" he explained.

"What did she do?"

…..

"Kazuto….?"

"She kissed me. Twice." He said bluntly

"She DID WHAT!?" Sugu shouted with anger as her cheeks burnt red. As far as she knows, Asuna was nothing more than a dangerous teenage girl who knew how to push their buttons and antagonize them…but to KISS her brother like that when she wasn't around…..all bets were now off.

' _Note to self, kill Asuna the moment I see her again'_ Sugu thought with an evil glint in her eyes while her brother just sweatdropped at her.

' _Note to self, make sure my sister doesn't kill someone for kissing me.'_ As much as Kazuto was conflicted, he knew that Asuna was dead as soon as Sugu finds her. Now if the chestnut-haired girl didn't have an insane personality like him than she would be scared a bit but he doubted that as well…..that woman has no fear whatsoever.

"I don't know why she did it but right now….everything's just a little confusing." He sighed as he rubbed his forehead in frustration. He avoided to tell her about

"Alright Kazuto, I want you to stay away from Asuna, avoid her at best because right now she's causing you to act a little different right now."

' _If she's also part of the reason why my brother is losing himself then its best I keep her away from him. I'll inform the others tomorrow to do the same thing.'_

"Ok. Can I just get some sleep?" he asked her as he felt himself fall, before he could go any further Sugu caught him and placed him back on the bed.

"I think we both need it." Suguha laid in bed with him before pulling the covers over them both. "Kazuto you awake?" she asked before she heard soft snoring. She sat up and looked over at him seeing him knocked out.

"Looks like your conversation drained your energy a lot more than I thought it did. *Sigh* this is gonna be a long road to recovery." She said as she brushed her hand through Kazuto's hair.

' _He already has enough trouble dealing with his nightmares, now Asuna comes in and makes it even worse? I have to keep her away from him no matter what, there's no telling what else she's got plan for him.'_ Sugu thought as she wrapped her arms around her brother and kissed his forehead before she herself fell asleep.

Outside the house there was a figure leaning against a pole across the street with her arms crossed. Asuna smiled as she gazed upon the full moon thinking about what the events that are about to unfold in the near future.

"You can't protect him from his nightmares Suguha but the real question is….how long can you protect from not just me…..but from himself?" she asked as she started walking away from the house and down the street into the foggy atmosphere.

She stopped and whispered a few more words before she continued walking. "I look forward to our next encounters in the future…Kirito." She then walked away her figure disappearing as silence filled the air.

 **Okay now that was longer than expected. Anyway guys sorry for not updating this for so long, I've been busy updating Universal Fragments and rewrite RWBY: Team CMSN chapters that I forgot about this. Hope you enjoyed this origin because the story will take place in SAO Family Bonds later on within a few weeks. If you have questions about the characters, I will answer them on how I'm portraying them in the story. Until next time, I'll see you in HELL.**


	5. Author's Note

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the late update but I wanna to tell you all that this was a prequel and I changed the name from Family Bonds to Infinite Scenario. I am currently working on Ch.2 along with 2 other chapters for a different story Blazblue Renegades (Character List already up) so I am trying to get it all done within the week. Again sorry for the late update and thank you for reading Hollow Aftermath.

Those who have favorited, followed and reviewed this story, a big thank you to for taking the time to read this. Once again thank you and I will see you all in Infinite Scenario. Don't forget to check out my other stories and I will see you guys later.

HellLaser descending back to Hell.


End file.
